The Blossoms of National Law University Delhi

Me, the Ph.D. cohort, and the Mount Carmel principal Dr. Rajeev Tyagi, in the Research, Ethics and Publication class after doing interactive legal rights presentations at the Mount Carmel school in Dwarka (from left to right Pawan Yadav, Kushal Gurjar, Dr. Tyagi, me, Anushka, Gayatri Kapur and Manisha Aswal).

When I was applying for the Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Award, I needed a host university. Luckily, with the help of former Fulbrighters, I found National Law University Delhi, a top-ranked law school in Delhi, India. The National Law Universities were established by government statute, and this one was relatively new, established in 2008 — yet awash in multi-disciplinary policy centers in everything from pro bono work to environmental policy to Constitutional Law and Human Rights. It turned out to be a good match.

My first day at NLU I was delighted to discover that I got my own office — complete with a hot water kettle and office supplies, as well as housekeeping staff to clean, fill up my water kettle, or bring me chai. I loved eating lunch in the Girl’s Hostel (dorm) where I got fresh and home-cooked Indian thali (plate of food including rice, dal, salad, vegetarian dish, bread) — and even eventually got more used to the spiciness.

I was also a bit flabbergasted to discover that when I entered the law school (or even entered the campus for that matter) the security guards and the administrative staff all stood up for me — the guards even saluted. This happened at both the front gate when I was dropped off (or walked in coming from the metro), as well as when I entered the main building to walk up to my office. I’m not sure I ever got used to it.

Every opportunity at NLU seemed to blossom into another opportunity (the word mushrooming also comes to mind but I prefer the blossom imagery). My first project was teaching an online course with my colleague, Dr. Bharti Yadav — Advanced Legal Skills — for Indian law students from around the country and for Turkish law students. This experience blossomed into an invitation from Turkish scholar and professor Dr. Feridun Yenisey inviting me to join the international faculty in teaching a week-long trial technique course at Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul through his international program, PALS (Professional Advanced Legal Studies). I was delighted to accept and to stop in Istanbul on my way from Delhi to Buffalo.

Turkish law students after the culmination of their week-long course, a mock trial (with faculty judges standing in the back) at Bahçeşehir University, part of the BAU Global international programming under Dr. Yenisey’s PALS institute (Professional Advanced Legal Studies).

As the Fulbright-Nehru Scholar, I was also invited by Fulbright to be featured with NLU Registrar Dr. Harpreet Kaur, another female Fulbrighter, for International Women’s Day (Fulbright’s push for more female applicants); I was invited to attend the NLU’s program for the Fulbright International Educational Administrator’s visit to NLU (to explain my work there and offer support for future Fulbright scholar applications); and I was invited by NLU to do a faculty presentation on my research and writing-project-in-progress on comparative approaches to legal literacy in India and the United States. Every time, I felt honored to be there; every time, I learned so much from other Fulbrighters and NLU faculty members; every time, I had stimulating conversations about being part of positive social change as a lawyer and an educator.

Some of my favorite “blossoms” were the more casual events such as being invited to the homes of my NLU colleague Dr. Bharti Yadav, being taken out to dinner to Indian Accent (the premier Indian gourmet restaurant in Delhi) by Dr. Ritu Gupta, guest lecturing on Storytelling for Advocates in Dr. Prasannanshu’s the Law and Literature class, lunch at the canteen with Dr. Roopa Madhav, or Teaching Fellows Shraddha and Shardool, chatting with Prof. Anup Surendranath about his human rights work with prisoners and Project 39, and spending the evening with Registrar Dr. Harpreet Kaur and Dr. Daniel Mathew at Dr. Kaur’s home.

Dr. Bharti Yadav and her wonderful family.

Dr. Ritu Gupta and me at Indian Accent.

Dr. Prasannanshu’s Law and Literature class after Storytelling for Advocates lecture.

I even got to travel to another National Law University in Hyderabad, in the southern state of Telangana, to do a two-day Advanced Legal Skills workshop with Dr. Yadav at NALSAR University of Law (National Academy for Legal Studies and Research), which then blossomed into attending a legal awareness workshop with the Seghal Foundation at the nearby village of Poodur.

Dr. Bharti Yadav, me, and law students attending the Advanced Legal Skills workshop.

Visit to Poodur with the Seghal Foundation for a Legal Awareness workshop.

Me and Dr. Yadav at the home of NALSAR Vice Chancellor Dr. Krishna Deva Rao. Dr. Rao was probably the first person in India I spoke to before my first visit in 2020, when he was still Vice-Chancellor at NLU Delhi. He was kind enough to respond to my inquiries about his access to justice work in paralegal education, and sealed the deal for my Fulbright application by agreeing to host me as a Fulbright scholar.

Last but not least, my most substantial teaching project at NLU Delhi was teaching the Research, Publication and Ethics class to the Ph.D. cohort in April. This class turned out to be a great vehicle for a Street Law module, used in law schools around the world, where law students prepare and present an interactive presentation on legal rights to a high school class. I really enjoyed the students’ studiousness and willingness to present their work on Consumer Rights and Cyber Bullying to Mount Carmel high school students. And this experience led to the best blossom of all — an invitation to come back.