IDIA’s Harvest of 2014

“The harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph.”

Veeranna studied at Sai Junior College, Hyderabad, a special school for the visually challenged. He was ecstatic when the CLAT results were announced recently and he found that he had made it to NLU, Jodhpur.

However, life has not been easy for this bright scholar from the town of Karimnagar. His father passed away early in his childhood, and he lives with his mother and grandmother. The family has struggled to survive on a hand-to-mouth basis, which made Veeranna’s visual impairment worse as he spent his childhood without access to sufficient reading material.

Veeranna, however, has always been determined, dedicated, and focused on achieving his ambitions. He burnt the midnight oil while preparing for the CLAT. His vast knowledge of national and international issues and his ability to articulate coherent opinions on important contemporary topics impressed his IDIA trainers. He is confident that he will be able to shoulder his family's responsibilities once he becomes a lawyer.

Within a short period of time, Veeranna endeared himself to his IDIA trainers. We believe that this IDIA Scholar’s enthusiasm, desire, and never-say-die approach will take him far in life.

VEERANNA BADAVATHU

An earnest and sincere student, Jumika grew up in a village close to Dima-pur in Nagaland. At an early age, Jumika was awarded a scholarship at the prestigious Sanik School, where he completed his schooling .

While Jumika’s father, the sole bread winner of the family, works for the State Government, but life has not been easy. Jumika has a large family. His parents, three brothers, two sisters and three extended family mem-bers live under the same roof and struggle to make ends meet on the modest salary of a government employee. As the eldest son, Jumika hopes to share the responsibility of his parents soon.

Jumika wishes to study law because he believes that law is a means to help the needy, and he wishes to help the people of his community. Jumika has successfully started down this path, as he did very well in the CLAT and secured an admission at GNLU, Gandhinagar. We have very high hopes from this IDIA Scholar, and are eager to see Jumika fulfill his noble aspirations of helping his community.

JUMIKA K. YEPTHO

Asha is a hard working, enthusiastic scholar who is passionate about studying law despite being visually challenged. She is driven, focused, and dreams about making a difference to society. Her mother is a Hindi teacher and her father runs a small business in a little village in Andhra Pradesh.

Asha is truly a gifted individual, with skills and abilities in various fields. She has given several performances in Carnatic music. Asha also has a knack for languages and converses fluently in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi. Her English, too, is very good, and she is uncannily fast with mental mathematical calculations. Asha’s innate inquisitiveness serves as the fuel in her quest for knowledge.

By securing an admission to NLU, Odisha, she has taken the initial steps towards achieving her dreams. With further support from IDIA, this multi-faceted scholar can truly become a community leader. We look forward to supporting her so that she can, in turn, help others and fulfill her dreams in doing so.

ASHARAMESH

Ron Joy belongs to an economically backward Christian family in Trichur, Kerala. He grew up in Mumbai and his inclination to study law can be traced to his familiarity with Amarchand Mangaldas, Mumbai, where his father works as a Steno Secretary.

In March 2010, Ron passed the SSC Examination with distinction, securing 91.09% overall, and was awarded a special mention for securing 98% in Science. He went on to pursue his interest in science and passed the HSC Examination with 76% marks. Passionate about football, cricket, and badminton, Ron has received awards in sports and has been an active participant in client counseling competitions. He has also excelled in literary activities such as essay writing.

Ron aspires to become a leading lawyer in the future, and take up the financial responsibilities of his family to relieve his his ailing father, who is due to retire next year. By successfully securing a place in NLU, Jodhpur, he is well on his way to achieving his goals, and the IDIA team is keen to see him succeed. Well played, Ron!

RONJOY

Pritam Das hails from Basanti, a small, impoverished village in the Sun-derbans, West Bengal. His father is a shopkeeper and his mother is a homemaker. Given his background, he had never given any thought to law as a career. However, his life took a completely different turn on the day the IDIA team visited his school to sensitise students about taking up law as a career.

After being chosen by IDIA for training, Pritam worked really hard to do well in the CLAT. Unfortunately, Pritam was unable to clear it in his first attempt. He enrolled in the Department of Law, Hazra Campus, Calcutta University, and continued to prepare for the CLAT. In his next attempt, his dedication and hard work paid off and Pritam secured an admission at NLU, Odisha.

It is a testament to his sincerity and honesty that every IDIA trainer who interacted with Pritam came away with the experience of meeting some-one really special. We look forward to this IDIA Scholar accomplishing much in his life, and scaling greater heights!

PRITAM DAS

Aritra did his schooling from Kalyani Public School, Barasat. Unfortunately, in 2012, his father passed away, leaving behind numerous debts for his mother and him. Since his mother is a home-maker, the only source of sustenance for them is his father’s pension. Despite these adverse circumstances, Aritra scored 78% in his SSC Examination.

In the hope of securing a steady source of income, they bought a house using a bank loan, which they had planned to rent out. However, they later discovered that the property was in dispute. In this situation of utter hopelessness, Aritra worked extremely hard to be the one ray of hope in his mother’s life.

Aritra showed immense promise as an IDIA Scholar and scored admirably good marks in his mock tests, He was determined to crack the CLAT this year, and believed that nothing could stop him from becoming a great lawyer some day. He has proven himself by successfully securing an admission to NLU, Jodhpur, and has taken the first step towards achieving his dreams.

ARITRA MONDAL

Growing up amidst severe poverty in Mehboobnagar, Andhra Pradesh, Tulasiram aspired to only one thing: to lift his family out of poverty. His father, grandfather, and their fathers before them had all been poor farm-ers barely able to eke out a living. As the only one in his family’s history to have received an education, Tulasiram understands the true value of it. Given that he is visually challenged, the ride was an even rougher one for him.

It was during his preparation for his SSC Examination that he came to the knowledge that the law was an instrument that treated the rich and poor alike and gave them equal rights. This concept of equality appealed to him immensely, and he knew he had found his calling. Tulasiram did not let the fact that he is visually challenged affect his preparation. While preparing for the CLAT, his mentors would find him on the computer every weekend listening to it narrate world affairs to him. Tulasiram persevered against all odds and secured an admission to NLU, Odisha.

When asked which book he would like us to gift him, he didn’t hesitate to ask for Dreams into Action by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, which contains his favourite quote: “If you follow excellence, success follows”. Tulasiram is an exemplar of this very motto, and we hope that this IDIA Scholar will turn out to be one hell of a trail blazer!

TULASIRAMMUDAVATH

Shamnad Basheer, Managing Trustee+91 9818825148shamnad@idialaw.com

Kranti Vanga, Executive Vice President+91 9535190190kranti@idialaw.com

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