From the moment I stepped of the plane, Bhopal was a whirlwind of experiences. Even more so since I had dozed off the last 15 minutes of the flight and hadn’t quite woken up when we met our escorts. They were three beautiful young students from the National Law Institute University. We hit it off from the start. I asked, they asked, and we laughed a lot. They were fourth and fifth years (our of a five year program) and appear to be involved in everything! It was utterly amazing to meet such motivated, bright, and vivacious young women!
Unfortunately, because it was rainy and late we didn’t get to see much of the city. The college looked large and very impressive, even in the dark. A brand new library has just been completed and it serves as the centerpiece of a very complete university compound. We had heard much about it in the States and from Dr. Menon, but what we found was even more impressive than what I imagined. The building itself is very large and modern. There are what seem to be hundreds of panels of reflective glass surrounding what appears to be a very large bowl. It is surrounded by a low tiled pool. In the daylight, the fish design from the tile is reflected throughout the entire structure contrasting in the most beautiful way.
The campus is outside the city- about 30 minutes from the airport- and is in a rural setting. It reminds me a lot of Gimnasio Los Cerezos, my school in Manizales. Just much busier and serious. A residential university, students are housed in three hostels and even the Professors have living quarters on campus. We are staying at the Guest House. My room is a suite. It is actually two rooms and it includes a sitting area, a walk in kind of closet and a bathroom. It has air conditioning which in the Bhopal hot and very humid weather comes in very handy.
The first night we take dinner in my room and are again accompanied by the girls. The list of activities they are involved in just doesn’t stop!! It is truly inspiring! In their few years here they have accomplished more than some attorneys I know. They have written and produced documentaries to highlight legal issues currently being faced by some Indian tribal communities, they direct Moot Court and the student run magazine. They are published- internationally!! They haven’t even graduated and their resumes probably come in volumes.
I go to bed overcome by information, gratitude for their hospitality and complete excitement as to what we’ll encounter while here at NLIU.
Bright and early we awaken by tea. Then we put on our Sunday best and head to the district court with the brand new Alternative Dispute Resolution Cell. We meet more students and I begin to realize brilliance here is the rule, not the exception. The district judge is an assertive, animated woman. She knows what her job is and she understand part of that job is to help train these up and coming legal minds. She answers our questions and gives us free reign over her courthouse. The building itself is very large. It houses municipal and magistrate courts. All over, there are sharply dressed men and women walking with a purpose. There is a lot of activity from every corner and of every kind. After a full day of judicial learning, we all return to NLIU exhausted and enriched. My favorite experience was talking to a local magistrate judge. It was amazing to see how he interacted with the students, answered their questions and discussed cases and ideas. What an incredible learning experience!
At the campus, we arrive late for High Tea with the faculty and some visiting judges in town for the Moot Court competition. After speaking with the sociology professor, I feel I have struck gold. He is bright and eloquent and with the perfect background and experience to be my contact and resource as I develop and write my book chapter.
In the evening, we take our meal with the girls at their mess hall. Their hostel is an enormous labyrinth surrounding a beautiful garden/courtyard. There are 150 rooms and a little under 100 are filled at the moments. They have a nine p.m. curfew and a very serious no boys allowed rule. Dinner is simple but perfect. I am really learning to appreciate Indian cuisine…and every day I fall more and more in love with their bread. More nan, please!!!
Saturday is another crazy, busy day. We eat breakfast in the room and at promptly at 10 a.m. are whisked away to witness the ADR cell meeting. Innocently, we arrive to take our place as flies in the wall and are greatly surprised when we find it is all about us and our visit. We are even asked to take a place in the front podium to direct discussion. Promptly, we respectfully decline and instead decide to participate from our front row seats. Although an ADR meeting, discussion turns quickly to legal education, social responsibility and lessons in social justice. The professor is a little flustered his meeting is not going according to plan, but menial and encouraging at the same time. After exchanging emails and promises to write, we take off for a library tour and lunch with the faculty.
There, we find the Moot Court competition is progressing swimmingly. We’ll get to experience it first hand in the morning. Now, they are simply going through the elimination process and tomorrow the remaining participants will be ranked.
The rest of the afternoon involves a Client Counseling demonstration where Oscars and Golden Globes should have been awarded and a meeting with the principal and the Professor in charge of the Access to Justice programs. This university blows me away!
I’m not feeling very well but I’m plowing through the day’s activities because I know my time here is precious. I feel feverish and very tired but they have arranged a shopping trip to town I am not about to miss. Aditi, my new wonderful friend, turns out to be a terrible influence shopping and I vow to never speak to her at a store again. Of course, I am kidding, because although I have known her for less than 72 hours I already feel like we’ve been friends forever. My purchases are endless and every time the thought that I may not have a place to put it all crosses my mind, I dismiss it and buy something else. I am in India. Everything is beautiful and exotic and for the most part, affordable. I am in heaven!
Unfortunately, heaven doesn’t last very long since my health and my energy have deteriorated in direct relation to each other. Although the girls want to stay and eat out for dinner, I ask to be taken back. All I want is to go to bed. I have a fever and chills and I’m not quite sure I will make it through the evening. Back in the room, many people come to check on me. Even the Jurisprudence professor stops to show me some motherly care. I don’t know her but I love her for it. I am miserable and I look it. Extra-strenght acetaminophen, a lukewarm bath and sleep. My only hope is that I will feel better in the morning, because tomorrow we have a cross-country adventure waiting for us.
I skip the morning tour to the pre-historic caves and decide it is wiser to take care of my body and my health—it is a decision I do not regret. Although they had a great time and even saw giant monkeys, I am feeling much better in the morning. No fever at least! Aditi comes for me and whisks me away to the mess hall to accompany her for breakfast. She is so wonderfully smart and sweet! I hope she really does come visit me in the US. I can already imagine all the trouble we would get in together!!
Another of her friends joins us in her room and we talk so much, before we know it, Im 30 minutes late to my scheduled appointment! We run out the girls hall and make it just in time, through a crack in the door, to the finals of the moot court competition. Although I can’t hear them very well over the fans and because the room’s acoustics aren’t the best, I can see from their presence, their demeanor and their attitude that they are kicking butt! Some stand out more than others, but they are all in their element this morning. I can’t believe they had to write two briefs! I barely got one in on time!! I am convinced these kids are just crazy! Lunch with the faculty follows and I’m once again feeling like death is at my doorstep. I must look it, too, considering the continued parade of comforting and concerned words. A professor comes to my rescue with amazing cold medicine. I am at the point I do not even ask what it is. Nothing could make me feel worse than I feel at this very moment.
As we board the car to the train station, I start to wonder whether heading into the unknowns of civilization is a smart choice in my condition. But I am in India and nothing, short of plague or natural disaster, will stop me! I am confident, determined, and very very nauseous. We make it to the train station just in time. Lunch has helped settle my stomach and the cold medicine has helped settle my head. Although I still feel underwater, I am pleasantly surprised by our train accommodations. They are basic but comfortable, clean and air conditioned. You couldn’t ask for more! Sitting in Cart C7, seat 23, I cant help but thank God for all these amazing people and experiences. This has been an unbelievable adventure -much more than I could have ever imagined and much more than I could have wished for. I close my eyes and as I drift into sleep all I can think is “thank you, thank you, thank you.” I direct my thoughts to God, to the Universe, to whomever is out there listening, and I know my thank yous don’t fall on deaf ears and I hope whomever is listening knows those two simple words come from the deepest of my being.