Mumbai, Monday 17 June, 4.30 am.
The phone alarm rings, but I have been half-awake since 4 am anyway. This has been my fifth consecutive night of 4 hours sleep, and is one of many early morning wake-ups in the past 3 years, most specifically in the month of June every year.
My laptop and notebooks are open on the desk, as I left them a few hours ago. I start reading. There are 3 hours in which to revise key topics, before I face the last examination of my Masters in Business Laws. The second year annual exam format is the same as the first year - 5 subjects, 5 consecutive days, a 3 hour written examination for each subject. Today is the fifth and final day.
At the age of 50, I have chosen to travel back in a time tunnel, to my school and college days. I've spent the past few days in an unfamiliar "examination hall", a classroom at Mumbai's National law University.
Sitting with (mostly) younger cohort-mates, each day of the examination has been a physical and mental challenge - 3 hours of thinking and writing, racking my brains while torturing my wrist and fingers. After each exam, a brief respite of an hour and then I get on to study for the next day's paper.
If only I had done a better job of studying over the past few months! God knows, I have tried. The past few weeks and months have been an exercise of managing my day job, while also pressurising the brain to absorb and retain legal concepts, case laws, section numbers and more such complexities. My hand aches, as does my head.
But today is the last exam, the subject that I have been dreading the most. Taxation law is full of twists and unexpected banana-skins. The professor's devious questions in the formative assessments foxed almost everyone in the cohort. Half the weightage for the course grades comes from the formatives, and as a result most of us are faced with a grim struggle for 3 hours to cross the magic figure of 40 marks in taxation. To graduate and get the Masters degree, we need to score 40 out of 100 in each of the subjects, and keep our average of all subjects above 50. A bad score in taxation will ensure an overall failure.
It's 7.30 am now. Time's up. I wash up and try to eat a bit of breakfast. And for the first time, I sense acidity in the stomach! Consecutive late nights and early mornings are getting to me now. Ignoring the nausea, I get ready to commute to the examination center.
The clipboard I am using in the exam has been borrowed from my younger son. In fact he has outgrown it, he is a teenager now and too old for a clipboard with a picture of the cartoon character "Chhota Bheem" - a youngster with superhuman strength. Chhota Bheem can help me today, I certainly need mental and physical fortitude. It isn't going to be easy, but I have been repeating 4 words to myself for weeks now, I will not surrender - "not without a fight"!
I have opted for Mumbai as my examination center. The "National Law University Mumbai" is a rather grandiose name for an institution that currently occupies two floors of an office building in Powai. Hopefully their new campus will give students more of an educational ambience. Having said that, the current setting is not bad - there are plenty of trees around, and there is a quiet area outside the building where all the exam-goers are sitting or standing, reading their notes and getting set for the final push.
This is the second year of the masters course, and the tenth examination in total. By now, many know each other by face if not by name. I greet a few mates and our brief chat reconfirms to everyone that yes, of all the subjects, this is the one paper that they have been dreading the most. Then it is time for me to enter the building, carry out my pre-exam ritual of using the washroom, walk into the classroom, occupy the seat that bears my student roll number, and get ready to meet my fate.
It seems that nothing has changed in Indian examinations over the years. Exactly like it was decades ago in my school and college examinations, the strict-looking invigilator distributes the answer sheets ahead of time. The bell rings sharp at 10 am, and the question papers are handed out.
The National Law School of India Unversity (NLSIU) has a standard format across subjects. There are two categories of questions - theoretical, memory-based questions and practical, case-based questions. There are 8 questions each in the two categories, and one needs to attempt 4 questions in each category - 8 in total.
I have, by now, developed a routine that works reasonably well. I spend the first 10 minutes reading through the entire question paper. Every examination before this has been exactly the same - giving me an initial feeling of shock to see all the questions being so unfamiliar and intimidating. It is like walking into a party and realising you don't know anyone else in the room. Then, as you look carefully, you see a slightly familiar face somewhere in the room, you see a couple more faces who look potentially friendly - and you choose 8 such attendees and converse with each for about 15-20 minutes!
While I always feel initially that I won't be able to string more than a few words together per answer, the brain invariably kicks into action. All those months of weekend lectures, the past few weeks of studies and the past few days of intense focus start to pay dividends. I remember one concept, one case, one more concept, the pages of the answer sheet start filling up... and all too soon, it is approaching 1 pm and the invigilator is saying "Last 5 minutes, tie up your supplements". Yes, there are a few people who have written so much, that they needed to take additional answer sheets!
I leave my answer sheet on the table and exit the classroom with a couple of minutes still remaining. In the washroom, splashing cold water on my face, I feel energetic. The adrenaline level in my body is still quite high! Downstairs, outside the building, the cohort gathers and we take a few group pictures and congratulate each other on surviving the examination. Taxation law, while not exactly a cakewalk, has not been the terrifying inquisition that I was dreading. I may just, after all, pass the exam and collect the masters degree!
Why law, and why a masters at this age and stage of life? I am a middle-aged person working in a completely different field. But law was an area of interest for a long time. So, when I came to know that NLSIU, the top-ranked law college in India, offers distance learning courses that are conducted online on weekends, it was a no-brainer to sign up. I signed up for a one year diploma in Cyber Law and enjoyed the course so much, that I immediately signed up for NLSIU's flagship distance learning program, a two year Masters in Business Laws that covers areas as diverse as employment law, contract law,investment law, IP law and environment law.
I am glad to say that I am hardly a unique specimen in the NLSIU student cohort, though - a significant portion of the cohort is comprised of non-lawyers, and a good amount are around the same age, or older than me. We have journalists, army officers, engineers, insurance specialists, bankers and many more.
NLSIU has been running the Master of Business Laws course since the 1990s. They believe in a high-intensity high-pressure approach - we have had ten solid hours of classes every alternate weekend, and two online formative examinations before the grand finale that I have just faced. The professors are all well-qualified and passionate about their respective field of expertise, but each of them seem to have their own unique spin on how to teach. Some professors sense the wavelength of the class and adjust their own approach to match it, while others expect the class to rise to their level.
The NLS online learning management system is basic and functional. It has the class readings and recordings uploaded. There are no snazzy features like online discussions, gamification, AI - BUT, to make up for this, the WhatsApp group (informally set up by the cohort) has been phenomenally successful, with over 600 members joining in. Some natural leaders in the cohort have organised revision study sessions. People feel comfortable asking even basic doubts on the WhatsApp group, since we get answers from someone in the group within minutes.
The WhatsApp group is amazingly supportive, and something about the course seems to bring out the best in the cohort. In the last few weeks and days before the examination, some share their notes. Some share exam tips, others share case studies, still others share mnemonics, and everyone gratefully absorbs the wealth of knowledge on offer. In the midst of the preparation, one dynamic cohort-mate even takes time out to have a batch T-shirt organized!
There is zero competition within the cohort. Rather, this exam has become a collective task where everyone wants everyone else to do well. All potentially valuable information is shared immediately. Any last-minute query from anyone struggling with a concept (and there are plenty such people and concepts!) is immediately answered by someone else in the group. We have questions and immediate answers at 2 am, 6 am, 4 pm - its a round-the-clock effort barring the 3 hours in the exam hall! With the wide range of backgrounds and pooling of knowledge, the entire cohort has bonded amazingly well. We are all in this together! Any competition is between us as a group, and our professors!
With the exams done with, there is a massive sense of relief. I head back to Pune and on the train, I see that the content of the cohort WhatsApp messages have changed, from notes and question papers to pictures of group lunches, pets and jokes! This community spirit that has been forged through the intense heat of the MBL course, will hopefully continue to thrive.
Three years of weekend law studies haven't made me an expert on law. As one of the cohort pointed out, "Law studies doesnt give you all the knowledge, but you now know where to look." Overall, the last 3 years have given me some new learnings and reinforced some things I knew before
On building Knowledge
- Knowledge is better absorbed via deep and intense efforts, than via shallow reading.
- There is nothing better than a deadline to make you focus! And the threat of public humiliation does wonders as well.
- Making notes is ten times more effective than just reading. But equally, repeated reading does help.
- Discussing something with a mate is more impactful than solo studying.
- And, law is a very fascinating subject. Maybe I should do a full-time law degree sometime!
On people
- Most people in the world are basically good, capable and are willing or even eager to help others! And when a critical mass of such people comes together, you get a phenomenon like our amazing cohort.
- Age is irrelevant. Truly. All you need is enthusiasm.
And on me
- I can do a lot, if I put my mind to it :-)
