Interview of Mr. Animesh Jha (Assistant Professor, DNLU, Jabalpur)on carrer in Academia

1) Sir, please introduce yourself to our readers.

I come from a small district in North Bihar and did my schooling from Bhagalpur and Patna in Bihar. I cleared CLAT in 2012.

I currently work as Assistant Professor of Law at National Law University, Jabalpur. I am an alumni of CNLU Patna. I completed my B.A. LL.B. in 2017 and immediately enrolled for LL.M at Patna University and graduated in August 2019 by grace of God, was immediately selected as regular position of Assistant Professor at newly established DNLU. I am teaching family law and criminal law here since September 2019.

2) Please tell us about your law school period and what are certain things which one learn during law school which helps him/her in professional career ?

I am sure that the best time in my life is and will be the 5 years of my undergraduate degree. In most of the ways it shaped my life and personality and is the most prominent factor in all my present and future achievement. It is impossible to enumerate all the things I learned in law school but few things are the most defining factors, first thing is being Aatmnirbhar. As law students, we were atmanirbhar even before this term was popular. Law school taught me how to function on my own. Experience of Hostel was a lesson of lifetime and the academics were very different from school education, where the teachers spoon-fed us information so that we can excel in boards. Here the facilities were very professional and generally indifferent towards the individual students and we were on our own for passing exams. Almost one third of our batch failed to complete the degree in 5 years, this is just an example of how difficult things can get in law school.

Second most important lesson I learned in law school is ironically the team work or being Nirbhar on someone. While being Atmanirbhar is very good, it can walk you through academics only which is only a small part of college experience. For doing anything else, you certainly need help from others. A person can be brilliant in his own domain but he can't be a good mooter or debater unless he is a team player. One can't write papers and can't participate in university events until one has good relations with seniors ans batch mates. I was very fortunate to have greats seniors, friends and partners with whom I realized that being dependent on someone does not make you weak necessarily, but can be a source of great strength.

Lastly the most important thing a student can learn from law school is to take initiative. Law is all about making the first move. One should serve his alma mater with all his strength and start something which will help those who come after you.

As a law student, I tried to do my part in changing my university for better. I started Youth Parliament and organised Kabaddi Tournaments and established student mentoring cell and even started the celebration of Basant Panchami. All these activities gave me a sense of belongingness to my university and everyone who is a part of it. Starting a good practice is like planting a tree, which will grow and make your life meaningful.

3) What is the one thing you experienced which changed totally after you finished your studies and entered into professional life ?

When I was in my final semester, the academics got easier and I had a lot of time to reflect. I tried to find my Unique quotient, which is very essential in present times. Today's professional world is all about specialization. Gone are the days where being jack of all trades helped you, today being the master of one is very important. One should identity his calling as soon as possible. For me that was family law. In law school, law intrigued me alot and we had one of the best faculty of the subject. I decided to develop it as my specialization and I was all set to join court and litigate in matrimonial disputes but somehow I was pulled by my love of teaching. Started from helping my friends and juniors before exam to teaching in a coaching institute for pocket money, I realized that teaching is something which gives me joy. Fortunately today I teach Family law, so everything worked out great.

4)You have qualified for JRF , please tell our viewers the details regarding JRF, how to avail this and how much helpful it is ?

Junior Research Fellowship(JRF), the examination of NTA NET is conducted twice a year.

NTA NET gives eligibility for becoming an Assistant Professor and a Junior research fellow. Only about 6% of those who appear in NET are declared eligible for becoming Assistant Professor and from those who qualify NET exam the top 6% are declared eligible for this fellowship. A student having JRF gets monetary assistance around 30k from government during his PhD. JRF also gives you a little edge in PhD entrance and interviews.

Obviously clearing NET and getting JRF is difficult but certainly not too difficult. The common paper often does the trick. If the paper of teaching and research aptitude is tackled properly, then JRF is well within reach provided you have clear conceptual understanding of basic law papers.

5) What are the things which a law student should do in college , if he/she aims to enter into academics and lecturership ?

If a student truly wishes to join the academia, my first suggestion well be to improve the people skill. Teaching is a performing art like dancing or singing. One can't become a good teacher simply by reading books and writing articles. It takes a lot of confidence and communication skill to handle a class of young adults who take a lot of pleasure in embarrassing teachers. A student mat start a small study group in which he can start teaching his friend or juniors so he gets a habit of explaining complex concepts in simple world which is primary task of a teacher. Secondly, if someone wants to join academia, he should be equipped with all the tools of legal research. Use of law journals, library and theoretical knowledge of research is also very important. It is very good if few good publications are in the CV is such aspirant.

Thirdly, as already mentioned, the role of specialization is very important. The more you know about a particular subject, better are the chances of growth. But this specialization must not come at the cost of basic understanding of all subjects as the law school can assign any subject to any teacher. So it is very important have the basic idea of a fair number of subjects.

Finally, the key is confidence. I cleared the first ever interview I appeared for the regular position and I believe that the major factor was my capability to remain calm in front of distinguished jurists of India. A teacher must project confidence in class or otherwise as the students always look upto the teachers for guidance and motivation.

As far as my journey is concerned, I believe that my habit of studying with my friends for exam and teaching law aspirants in coaching institute helped me alot. Mooting helps you in alot of way, you learn how to be confident and polite and most importantly you learn the legal research and the art of reading between the lines of long judgements.

6) From completing your B.A.LL.B. in 2017 to becoming an Assistant Professor of DNLU , Jabalpur in 2019 in such a short span of time is really a big success .

Please tell in detail about this journey of yours.

I consider myself extremely lucky in every manner. Within a month of completing my Master's, I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to teach in a National Law University.

My journey is as simple as it can be, I was unaware about CLAT till only few days were left to fill the form. I studied for some 15 days and by grace of God, scored enough to get in CNLU in the beginning of allotment process. After graduating, on suggestion of one of my friends filled the form of Patna University as at that time CNLU didn't offer LL.M. Patna University has only 4 seats for outsiders in Open category but fortunately I made the cut. After that I delayed my plan to join litigation for completing my masters and in the meanwhile continued teaching part time to CLAT aspirants. Like everyone else I gave Bihar Judiciary and cleared prelims but decided to sit out from mains exam just because I wanted to teach. I think the destiny wanted the same and My guru Prof Dr. S.C. Roy of CNLU suggested me to fill the form of DNLU Jabalpur. I was not very enthusiastic about my chances cause I was complete fresher and neither I had significant number of publications. But somehow my unending love of Family law covered for my inexperience and I am serving the University and legal academia ever since.

7)Thank you so much sir for talking with us , please end it with some message that you would like to convey which will motivate our viewers in the legal arena.

Thank you so much for letting me connect with the upcoming crop of law professionals. My message to the young lawyers is simple, the sooner you identify your calling, the better it will be for you in the long run.

Enjoy the college life, serve the alma mater, don't run for job or quick money but do what makes you happy. Do not feel pressure of success of others, it is not a sprint, it's a marathon.

And don't do drugs, Drugs are stupid.