In conversation with Bharat Chugh on good legal education, well-formulated resume, art of legal writing and implications of Pandemic

1. How do you define good legal education if one is aspiring to practice litigation or serve judiciary?

It is a common notion that it is very difficult to get into certain law schools and if you manage to get into those by cracking the very difficult entrance examination then there is a presumption of merit. This is not always unfounded and there is a certain amount of merit to this thinking. But this is not all.

No law school is better than the other, it always boils down to the individual merit of the candidate to what the candidate has done in terms of law schools- internships, publications, moot courts etc.

Individuals make the institutions. The important thing to notice is sometimes it takes only a certain number of students to put your law school on map. Personally, I have helped recruit many worthy candidates at the law firm without going by the traditional notion and looking at the candidate rather than the institution.

2. What do you expect from a good resume in order in case of attaining internship or employment?

In the initial years, everyone should endeavor  to experience everything and on the basis of the experience accumulated, must decide the path that suits him/her. We live in an era of specialization and therefore, one must focus on the areas in which recruiter will have interest. The idea is to be able to fill a vacuum in the market; fulfill a need; that’s the only way to stay relevant. But before one specializes, one should experience everything. Therefore, initially, broad based internships and work(which translates into a broad understanding of first principles of law and broader lay of the land) which slowly gravitates to the subject area work really well for me personally. As one masters in any field, he/ she becomes the knowledge base of the firm or the ‘go to person’ on that subject and people approach him/her for any consultation on the subject matter. It develops your credibility and reputation as a lawyer not only in the firm but generically also in terms of clients & all who start trusting you.

I personally have a bias for publications as it reflects prowess at language; skills such as how you speak, draft and also language which is reflected a lot in your communication. It also helps a lot in network building which is very important in this era. Words, as I always say, are the only stock in trade of a lawyer and the importance of the ability to communicate cannot be emphasized enough.

Also, simplicity is very crucial so the idea is to write something easily comprehendible, witty and interesting. I believe, if you can’t state it simply enough, you haven’t understood it well enough. And, if you can’t say out aloud what you’ve written, don’t write it either. It has paid great dividends to me as well.

Law cannot be studied in a vacuum so if the candidate is well read on economics, sociology etc gives him/ her upper edge.

To have better dialogue and conversation with judges or clients, policy makers, business leaders, you need to have a world view and being well-read definitely helps.

Someone said the difference who reads and who doesn’t read is of a mason and an architect.

For example, if you are given to work on economic policies, you cannot limit yourself to bare acts but need to have an overview of other relevant factors also and their impacts. Law is inter-vowen with so many other disciplines and having an interdisciplinary knowledge not only ensures a more well-rounded personality but also an ability to strategize better. Hence,one must have an inter-disciplinary approach. One must read extensively – sociology, history, philosophy, critical thinking, anthropology; all go on to make one a better lawyer/judge.

Also, sometimes the resume is not final word or correct determinant. One should not judge a book by its cover. So, we try selecting resumes on the basis of personalized well written cover letter. Because, even if an interview is an equalizer or a leveller, getting that opportunity is sometimes not easy because of the sheer number of resumes that recruiters get, and in order to get that opportunity – the resume/cover letter should catch the attention of the recruiter. It should have things that make the candidate stand out; convince the recruiter that this candidate will add value and is at very cutting edge of his/her specialization or area of interest.

3. Where do you get this sort of clarity while working hard for the judiciary to crack it and then leave it for another unplanned opportunity? Do you ever think about the road not taken?

Through my personal life experiences and some of them are already in public domain. I started working in an early age and that gave me a great exposure to law. It definitely helped me realize a lot about life, especially the injustices meted out on people on daily basis; the plight of people who are marginalized, who don’t have access to resources, how they are possible given a rough deal by the system; how difficult it is for a common man to get justice and how important is sensitivity in judicial decision making.

My father ended up losing his own house as a matter of fact when he came as a refugee to India due to the lawyer not showing up in the court.That’s when – my dad took the pledge of fighting for the disfranchised. Slowly and gradually, my father rose from selling tea to a typist at Tis Hazari Court, who would go back in the evening to study law, after a hard day at work typing out documents. He finally completed his law and started his legal practice at Tis Hazari and did a lot of pro bono work. He wanted me to start from the very court, but as a judge. He wanted me to be a judge because as a judge, you have the power to do a lot for the people and to do justice on a day to day basis. I ended up preparing for judiciary in my final year of Law College. I was always passionate about law and really enjoyed the time of preparation. I was fortunate to have made it in my first attempt and really enjoyed my stint as a judge. Ended up getting to do a lot of good. But somewhere along the line, I realized that I really missed the feel of being a lawyer. My dad was lawyer; I’ve personally always connected-to the idea of being a lawyer more than anything else. That’s who I really am. That’s what I associate more with. I’ve always loved arguing & persuasion, and on a balance , I thought – I am more suited to being a lawyer than a judge, atleast in my initial few years where the experience at bar is crucial and goes a long way in shaping one’s self. Also, I thought a litigation would give me a wider canvas to work with, at least in my initial few years. I also love to write and grappling with legal issues that one doesn’t have exposure to, at least, in the initial few years of judgeship. This was the thought behind leaving judgeship and there’s never been a moment of regret, ever. I have had the great fortune of working on some of India’s most complicated and biggest cases in the last three and a half years and there’s never been a dull day or a day of regret. Being a Lawyer is challenging, fulfilling and extremely rewarding.

4. In India even after several Pay Commissions, Judges are not paid considering the amount of work load they have in courts? Do you think it was one of the major reasons for you to leave judiciary?

No. As I said, I am passionate about the practice of law and that was what weighed with me when I took up lawyering. Judgeship is something that can never be measured in terms of compensation. Plus, I am a man of very limited needs. My biggest expense a decade back and even now is on Books and judges are paid well enough to buy them. Therefore, money was never a consideration though the practice of law, if you’re good at it, is extremely rewarding. On a broader point, I agree compensation of judges in India is not at par with the work-load and India is amongst one of the nations where post-independence, the salary of judges have actually gone down relative to the rest of the world. Indian judges are one of the most poorly paid judges in the world. Despite that we tend to attract good talent from the bar. To attract and continue to attract the best minds, we need to pay them better.

5. Consultancy Services being barred by Bar Council to provide Legal Services? What is your view on it?

It is the need of the hour to have some regulation in order to regulate Consultancy Services in India but in the wider picture, opening market for the big law firms or foreign law firms can increase healthy competition and can create more employment opportunities. Competing with the best brains (and brains from diverse fields) can benefit the legal fraternity at large. The legal sector as whole and the client both benefit with this cross fertilization. I have never been in favour of closing down the market but talking about protecting the interest of the lawyers, it should be done in a regulated fashion,and we can balance the pros and cons for betterment and growth.

6. Quoting a phrase from your profile ‘you have had the experience of facing 12 criminal appeals in a day’ and you have excelled the art of cross examination. You are also very well known for your talks and writings on the art of judgment writing. How do you cope with the humongous work pressure? Also, how can one maintain mental health and well-being while pursuing a career as competitive as law?

I consider myself blessed to have a big team of bright young lawyers to work with and it will be unfair to take the entire credit. Arguing 12 criminal appeals in a day and balancing the work is intellectually stimulating and I strongly believe time management was the key to this as it is the key to pretty much everything in life.  One should be very jealous of their time and should not waste time at any cost. Distractions are faced by each one of us and therefore, it is important to master the art of self-control.

The Stanford Marshmallow Test concluded  that people who are good at self control have better chances of being successful than people who are not as they can let go of the instant gratification.

The emotional toll that long working hours take on you can be mitigated with a sound support system which can exist in the form of your family, friends & peers, or even something that you totally enjoy doing for instance, reading, painting or playing the piano. Also, it is always advisable for one not to get too emotionally attached to one’s case because not only does that  limit your objectivity but even the judges lose the confidence in you if you are too emotional about your brief. Your and the judge’s compass should be aligned. The Judge should trust you as an officer in the court and that trust is earned by being objective about one’s case and making fair concessions whenever appropriate. That way – courts start trusting you as an officer of the court. Even otherwise, it is a good idea to be emotionally balanced. In fact, speaking from a personal experience, cultivating hobbies help in overall development and  helps one get through tough times.

7. We would like to know some of your interesting cross examinations instances.

I have shared multiple criminal cross examination instances and talked about. Let me talk about a civil case where I was trying to get an email admitted  in a case of misrepresentation. I was representing a foreign client where a startup company, through a series of misrepresentations, had convinced my client into buying it. Since it was nothing but a sham, my client wanted a reconsideration of the sale deal and return of the consideration. It was important for me to prove certain emails that were denied by the opposite party:

When I was cross examining the party had already denied the email throughout the course of the case. It was an old mail and we couldn’t call the service provider as we were in an advance stage of the case. There was no way really to prove the email if this witness denied it even during cross examination. I had to get that admission out of him someway or the other. I was careful not to ask an open ended question but keep the witness on a tight lease by asking close/leading questions. So, the question I ended up asking the witness was somewhat on the lines of : “why you didn’t escalate the email to your Board of Directors” not “did you receive the email or not?”

My question was somewhat loaded (which may not always be permissible) and presumed that the witness had received the mail; I deflected attention to the reason of not forwarding it to the board of directors. I took it as a given that he received it and the guy took the bait and starting explaining the reasons for not forwarding. The witness was well into his justification before he realized that he had ended up conceding the fact that he got the email.

In the same case, the witness claimed selective amnesia/forgetfulness of certain facts; in order to overcome that, I starting by asking the witness self serving details from his distant past, all of which he could recollect with ease. To establish that he had a robust memory. This laid a great foundation for my case as – as I gradually moved to more damaging aspects of the case, he could not claim forgetfulness as a defence as the same would not be trustworthy.

8. In light of the current pandemic, what as per you will the ramifications be on the legal proceedings, on students graduating this year and the corporate culture?

Currently, each one of us is grappling with pandemic. There is also a silver lining to things depending on whether you see the glass half full or empty. Personally, I see it as half full as it has made us capable of working remotely, building technological infrastructures and we are becoming more efficient in doing things. It all depends on our approach to this – how we are taking and how willing we are to grow.

In hindsight, Bill Gates sometimes in 2015 warned us about this and we have failed in our duty of preparing better.

But sometimes, we learn the hard way. It is important for us to learn lesson and adapt once over. For young graduates, anxiety due to employment prospects is growing. Most lawyers and law firms have kept up their commitment of hiring and providing virtual internships. Many lawyers and partners have decided against taking their equity in order to pay the dues and to provide their employees with pay. Fortunately, people continue to show empathy and concern towards each other in these difficult times.

Few years ago, people thought that the M & A sector wasn’t doing too well, people thought economy has taken a down turn. People were not investing and businesses were failing. NPAs were rising. Even in that state of financial doldrums, there was IBC which came up as a big practice area; financial fraud/white collar crime also saw a huge rise and flourished as a practice area.

Litigation/legal work will continue till human species exist. The work form and nature may change but opportunities will always be there and we lawyers are a resilient species and are great at adapting and evolving.

9. Do you think ADR mechanism in these times will emerge as a savior in tackling the backlogs of cases?

Yes, I absolutely believe it will emerge as a savior. It is a more efficient method of resolving dispute which is why people are slowly turning away from the traditional civil processes/suits. I do think COVID-19 will help accelerate this process of motivating people to go for not only arbitration but also pre-mediation and other ADR mechanisms as well.

10. How can we overcome the gaps created by virtual hearings on cross-examination or how is it different from the traditional hearing set up? Also,how will it impact on the evaluation of factors such as body language and emotional sense of the witness/ accused who are being cross-examined virtually?

Personally, I am not a huge fan of cross examining someone virtually. Demeanor is a very important element in appreciation of evidence and virtual hearing makes it very difficult to calculate factors such as sweaty palm, tapping of feet etc. Another problem with the virtual  cross-examination is the possibility of the witness sitting in a jurisdiction where he may not be subject to the laws of perjury.

Ultimately, it poses a greater challenge; when  video conferencing was introduced in India, the courts, as a matter of prudence expounded  that the witness must be present in a country with which India has an extradition treaty and under whose laws of perjury are punishable. Even beyond benefits such as: observation of demeanour of witness and prevention of perjury, traditional hearings have other advantages too; very often, just by being in each other’s presence, the parties approach each other during coffee and lunch breaks and the matter gets resolved amicably without resorting to further litigation.

In my opinion, if the current situation demands virtual hearings, then it is incumbent upon us to evolve more effective methods and make use of better technology such as well defined cameras, better view, more oversight etc.

11. Please throw some light on how can one improve upon judgment writing or any legal writing for that matter?

What’s true for any legal writing, is true for judgment writing as well. I’ve written extensively on this and those interested may visit my earlier pieces on this. In short, one must go by the Rule of CRAM when writing facts. Facts have to be written Chronologically and must focus on Relevancy, Admissibility and Materiality. I have also often recommended young aspiring judges to firstly follow the Rule of ‘WDWDW’ (WHO DID WHAT TO WHOM) while writing judgment. If your judgment does not say this, in the first few paras, then it does not catch the reader. One may follow this formulation in order to give all necessary information that the reader needs. Secondly, in our writings and our briefing notes/preparation,we should always seek to address the necessary questions such as: Who? When, Where and How, What and Why? All of this helps the senior/reader/judge to understand what happened, what was the dispute about, how did the dispute come to this situation; also ‘What’ part articulates what the party seeks from the Court; and finally ‘Why’addresses the question as to why should the court decide in that particular way The last part is very important from the perspective of pleadings as it tells the court the reasons why should the court should decide in a particular way. But the golden rule in the judgment writing is that

“If you can’t say it aloud – don’t write it.”

Many times, judgment writing is not an exercise of coming to a point or deciding a law but rather a show of the literary genius of the writer. I believe, the factual part of the case must be clear and the losing party must be provided with adequate reasoning so that if need be, an appeal could be filed. As it is said, justice shall not only be done but seen to be done. The litigant must understand what is written and done.

We have judgments with 180 paragraph with 140 paragraphs just being a narration of history. Quoting Rig-Veda in a judgment is unnecessary. Nobody needs to be told in a gender justice judgment that we ought to respect women because a historical document says so. Our constitution is good enough framework. This would help with managing the bulk of a judgment which puts many students-off reading them while not taking away anything from its legal reasoning. Use of visual aids, maps, clear conclusions, key take away should be adopted more to make judgments more understandable. Ultimately, we need to remember that judgments constitute law – and ignorance of law is no excuse; in this background, it seems a bit odd and unfair that many judgments are simply not readable and the citizen can’t understand them.

It has always been my advice to young aspirants to write less as it is not the quantity but the quality which sets well-written judgments apart.  Finally – whenever writing any legal brief, remember:

The shortest distance between two points is the straight line. Be straight in your writing.

Also, “less is more” and in order to practice the ability to pack a lot of punch  for our briefings we often try and prepare our cases as Elevator Pitches, and the practice allows us to be able to summarise our cases or atleast the key points in the time that it takes for a person to go from the ground floor to the 9^th floor; this helps us cultivate the skills of ‘separating the chaff from the grain’ and also focus on the most important ideas/arguments of our case and distill our thoughts.

12. We have Colonial Laws due to which at times, judge faces moral dilemma? Do the judges have the power to subside law and follow the moral principles?

Yes, some of these dilemmas are faced by the young judges all the time. I had faced one by myself.

To answer this question, I want everyone to remember that a judge does not only do justice but he does the same in accordance with law and not on the basis of his conception/idea of justice which may be very subjective. There are different ways of looking at any given situation and the idea of justice usually varies from person to person. However, as a judge, justice has to done solely on the basis of law. This ensures rule of law and sanctity of justice and not rule of individual men. Principled judicial decision making is important.

However, where the judge is of the opinion that a given law is colonial and may not be constitutional, a civil judge or a magistrate cannot declare the law as unconstitutional but there are enough provisions allowing the judge to make a reference; formulating the question on constitutionality and referring it to higher bench competent to deal with constitutional challenge matters. CPC and CrPC allow judge to make such references.

There is a huge perception that these references are not appreciated by the Higher Courts. I don’t agree with that perception at all and strongly believe that if there is question in which the need to check its constitutionality is felt, it must be referred to the Higher Courts as the law allows you to do so. The Law grants the judge the power to do so.

Another approach would be to find out a creative way to interpret law. For example, I had the opportunity of ruling on a provision in Railways Act which prohibits anyone from selling anything in the train any without the permission of the Railway Authorities and doing so is a  punishable offence. When I started as a Judge, this was one of the first issue which came to me.

I glanced at these people, who sold tea, water bottles and trinkets  and they stood in front of me as if they have committed some heinous crimes. They had been projected as a threat to national security where in reality they have been struggling to make ends meet and provide for their families.. We have to also consider that this is not the choice that they have made, rather they are force to work like this due to lack of opportunities.  So, if State cannot create enough employment opportunities, then we don’t have any moral right to punish  them.

That was my instinctive response to the issue came in hand. And with my research, I came to the conclusion that “basic necessity knows no law”.  I was really inspired by some of the foreign decisions which said that in a particular circumstances, , stealing bread is not a crime. Of course, it does not legitimize stealing; otherwise it would have been anarchy.

I was also inspired by  Delhi High Court judgment which talks about the Decriminalization of Begging where the court went on with a similar logic that we need to get rid of the poverty but not the poor and gave defence of necessity to beggars who begged out of circumstantial necessity.

 

13. The social media platform is currently buzzing with opinions on bois locker room which is an Instagram chat room sharing objectionable views on girls and their morphed pictures. How do you see this act as abuse of freedom of speech and expression on social media platform? What are the legal actions that can be taken to prohibit such activities from happening again in the future?

We have enough laws in terms of IPC and cyber acts to handle the situation. Freedom of Speech is not an absolute right and as we call know:

Freedom of speech is not the right to say fire in an open theatre or freedom to say something which incites violence, cause public disorder etc. which is sufficiently entrenched in the system.

Certainty of application of the existing laws is a better response than enacting more laws. There cannot be a pre-censorship and we cannot go that way. I strongly believe better application of existing laws and good investigation can bring the offenders to the book and will act as deterrent to others.

14. How important is legal research and how can one ace the art of legal drafting?

It is a very important question to address as legal researching holds paramount importance in winning the trust of the client and as that of a judge. The entire profession is based on knowledge assyemtry; knowing or understanding something that the opposite side doesn’t and thriving on that. We don’t sell anything except what we know and how we think, right?

A client comes  to you because you know something which he does not.You win a case by knowing something that your opposite side does not and by convincing the judge and persuading him.

It is not only important to know how to do research conventionally; we need to go a step beyond to be outstanding. It is very important that young lawyers do not start their research on  Google directly.Rather go with bare act – understand the language of the bare act and illustrations, the standard commentaries based on the subject. One should know the legislative history, evolution of law, the Parliament debates, Constituent Assembly debates and other primary materials to help you understand the law the law in depth.  It is also important refer portals like SCC, Journals and other sources to look for precedents. When you build up a case, go with the research ina particular order and use the credible sources only. It should be primary sources more than hearsay or what somebody’s personal opinion is.

…it is on us to help the judges to make a better decision. With the help of a good research, you help them and yourself by convincing them for making a decision in your favor.

15. What inspired you to not stop and kept you moving forward in life? 

You learn from everyone and everything. Ones failure also gives the biggest lesson and we learn from our mistakes and failures as well.. I looked up to a lot of judges as my role model such as Justice Krishna Iyer, Justice Bhagwati, Justice Kuldeep Singh, Lord Denning, Lord Atkin as they have redefined judicial system and  done justice in a way which improved the life of the people at the ground level. . On the practice side, there are other great inspirational figures such as Mr. Nariman, Dr. Ambedkar. Looking up for the few people and learning and emulating from those giants and standing up is very important. When you read, you get inspiration, not only in the field of law but also in the other field and people like Leonardo da vinci, Steve Jobs can be quoted as a great inspiration for the fact that they stood for making a dent in the world and were so passionate about what they did. They almost always let the perfect be the enemy of the good (not always recommended) and stood out for their fantastic contributions to the world.

In India, one cannot advertise legal services. In such a case, the most effective way to solicit client as a young lawyer is to –

Focus on the case in hand, put your heart and soul and do it really well. Your efforts will manifest into clients over a period of time.There have been so many times when we have got cases from the court after successful arguments in a case; That’s how you build a reputation.

16. Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years or what is your next 10 year plan?

I know broadly in terms of what I am going to do but it is not specific. Firstly, I feel guilty about leaving judgeship for personal ambition when I did. Not guilty in the sense that I have any regrets but guilty in the sense that I do not continue to give back the way I possibly used to do or the way which I used to do.

We do pro-bono cases but, I feel that I’m still not giving back enough. So, I provide training to young judges and IPS officers at various academies; I also try to work with judicial service  aspirants, try to guide and help them traverse their journey from studying to judging – and from judging to justicing.

As I love to say I get to live vicariously through judges who I’ve had the opportunity to working-with and teaching, at some point or the other. That gives me a lot of satisfaction. Having contributed to nation building by helping make good judges.

Currently, I am working on a book related to “What and how is it to be a young  judge, and what is judge’s life”, the idea is to put young students into the judges driving seat and share everything that I can on preparation, exam process, the expectations from a young judge, the kind of work and how to deal with it, both pre-preparation and post selection. This will not only help the young lawyers to decide being a judge or not but also help them along the way..

I am always keen to work on my cases; it is an exciting times to be a lawyer; my practice of law straddles practice areas as diverse as : White collar crime, International Commercial Arbitration and Tech law, with a bit of advisory thrown in. It makes for a interesting blend and though it always keep us on our toes, it is also extremely rewarding individually to be able to work at such a wide canvas and contribute. Also, super excited about my involvements with legislative discussions, law reform, law enforcement training’s, etc.

17. We are acquainted with your love for poetry! It would be nice if you could share with us, the one, which is closest to your heart. 

I like to call myself a ‘closet poet.’ And once you hear me – you’d agree that’s where I should be – because it’s not good at all.

But since you insist, here’s something I wrote on the Juvenile Justice System.I strongly felt on the issue of Juvenile Justice and lack of enough measures  for the children which are in conflict with law. I strongly opposed the amendments which came in the Juvenile Justice Act a couple of years back which treated children of age between 16 to 18 years as adult in some cases.

Nobody taught me to speak-therefore, I can’t mince words,

I also have to tell, rather quickly my tale, for time doesn’t stop and the guillotine doesn’t fail;

I can hear the shouts of the crowd, people who’ve gathered about, The civilised society is baying for my blood; my young scarlet blood;  upper-middle class children would be made to drink from it, I am told-it lulls the demons inside.

That’s what the priests say: “it kills juvenility”; really, that’s what they say, but let me not get ahead of myself, and begin where it all began:

The setting is a one room house-in a slum in north Delhi,

where I was conceived, in Dickensian poverty

I was at peace with not-living, I was free,

before a young couple decided to have me;

people call them my mother and father; none, of course, took my consent,

and thus, I began the journey of life, unwilling, reluctant and angry;

No wonder – I caused my mother much pain, first, because of my desire not to be born,

second- since there was never any food inside of her,

I kicked & gnawed at her insides, she wailed in vain, just for her not to have me, but she didn’t budge.

I caused her to nearly die, while she gave birth to me,

You see, that was an act of protest, against introduction into this world,

this inhospitable sphere of exploitation and injustice;

I was raised on my impoverished mother’s thin milk- the toxic gruel of poverty, exploitation, desperation & disease.

For my parents- My introduction into this world –

was an act of triumph of unmitigated hope, or callous thoughtlessness to the

consequences of their action; This lack of control of impulse,

would go on to be the defining feature of my life, legal battles, television debates would be fought and lost over it, my dear friends – it would have a bearing –

on the course my life would take –

and the choices I would make.

I was raised on staple diet of violence, abuse and hunger-  no wonder, I never knew control,

I’d flung myself to the first sight of bread crumbs, leftover rice, or on a good day, sour curd;  the lack of control would come back to haunt me, as we would see later.

I was abused by countless men, multiple times, don’t ask when and how; to the point, that I started valorising my own violators.

I stopped fighting back, in this resignation was a realisation that I deserve it, and all those, who are weaker, those who’ve lost the ovarian lottery, and have had poor mothers for fate.

I never knew mercy, compassion-

a hungry child is incapable of empathy; incapacitated for emotional telepathy,

the exercise of placing one in someone else’s shoes? you must be kidding; he never knew any shoes,

and can hardly see the world for himself, for what runs in his system is not blood, he is nourished with envy running through the course of his being,at the injustice of this world,

at its monstrous inequities.

No wonder I never knew, the finer aspects of living, of civilisation;

of the rules set by men, who had either abused, or watch me being abused, while they fed, clothed their children with a nourishing touch, a benign sort of love.

No wonder when I found somebody even weaker, I couldn’t resist,being on the winning side of the power equation, for the first time – the abused turned an abuser.

Now, they are gunning for my head, they’d like me to die a judicial death; but they don’t know – children like me exist on the penumbra of life as you know it, banished from civilisation.

They don’t care much. Rules matter to those who have a chance to win. They don’t know – I never wanted to be born and I am quite indifferent to living. And I have one thing to say to them:-

Since I never had a childhood – don’t treat me as a child – Punish me, make me free !!

 

 

*Editorial Credits: Saranya Mishra, Nisha Gupta, Nritika Sangwan and Ankit Mishra.