REMINISCENCE OF THE PAST, WHILE ATTEMPTING TO COURSE CORRECT THE PRESENT !!

I still very fondly remember my Pune days at SYMBIOSIS INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY . Hailing from a typical middle class Indian Bengali family, the value of education had been inculcated as "???????? ?? ???? ????? ?????? ????" [Nahi padhega toh paan dukan me baithna]. So, getting internships in the semester breaks were a must for us. There was no LINKEDIN at that point of time... and the primitive internet connection of 2002/2005/2007 was the only hope that we had for finding half built websites of reputed law firms, barely containing a landline number of the front desk to whom, aspiring interns ?were unnecessary troubles... if you were super-lucky you might find an email id or two, which largely went unchecked -----

But then you find, a good many firms meted and doled internships on references, rather on CVs. Now, being as poorly connected as the then internet, to fellows like me the 'firm guys' were some Godly creatures, having an aura around them, seldom reachable. Nowadays, I see much hue and cry on the issue, whether an intern shall be paid or not, in our times, getting an internship without reference was such a tough job, that once we got one, most of us were more than happy to arrange our lunch at our own expenses, than to look for reimbursement (read stipend).

So when #bhattacharyyasandassociates was floated, we took to a policy of providing maximum possible internship opportunities and that too on the strength of CVs and subsequent interviews (preferably virtual). Stipend... or no stipend... depends on the project on which the interns work and of course on the level of professionalism they reflect at the desk. But the most important part I think is to provide the tomorrow's legal minds with the opportunity to get abreast with some real works which they are expected to do when they graduate out of the respective law schools.

Its most heartening to see people interning long term and thereafter, getting absorbed in the payroll of the firm. There were enough examples in the recent years who had interned for more or less a full year (both virtually and offline) and now have become assets of the firm as Litigation Associates. Special mentions: Soumyojyoti Chandra , Taniya Roy and Stuti Bansal

Unfortunately, the Guru-Shishya relation that should have been prevailing in the ecosystem, stands severely damaged, today. The Gurus, in many a case, behave like egotist predators instead of being benevolent mentors, while the Shishyas are found to be irresponsible and dishonest, without the mark of respect. It is high time that in order to preserve the nobility of the profession and values in the system, we mend our ways.

An aspiring intern should do well to remember that for an intern, internship should be considered as an extended education... it is way more important to receive such education and training while doing your internships so that you really learn something new; than to squabble about petty stipends. On the other hand, a mentor should be aware that he has a duty of care towards his/her interns and it is his/her moral obligation that at the end of the interning period the guy/girl under your wings should be able to tell, what new things, what new explanations and what new applications of law they have learned from your training --- "worked out briefs/attended client counselling/meetings/conferences/attended Courts"?are the exact words in the certificate which show that they perhaps learned nothing new under the mentor's tutelage.

Let's make the world a better place to LIVE, EARN and PROSPER. Vandemataram !!

Written by:

Boudhayan Bhattacharyya

Pic Courtesy: Own and Google

Special thanks to Sretapa Sinha