Mantis was a petulantly impatient warrior who was prone to jumping to conclusions and making

impulsive decisions. When this habit got himself captured by crocodile bandits, the long wait he
was forced to endure in his cage allowed him to find the patience to play dead long enough to
ambush his captors.
Our impulsiveness in jumping to conclusions in Legal Reasoning could be best described as
suicidal. Only a handful are capable of enduring patience, the key in Legal Reasoning.
A very common mistake in solving Legal Reasoning questions is applying your own knowledge
to the question.
Remember, via legal reasoning questions CLAT wants to check your aptitude and not your
knowledge of the law.
All you need to do is to read the facts and the principle carefully and simply apply the principle
to the facts. Like stated above, legal reasoning question require no prior knowledge and the
questions come with a hint.
Even if the principle is obnoxious enough to blow your mind away, viz. Killing somebody is a
courageous act and will fetch you a Param Vir Chakra, you must not get blown away by it. You
need to stay within the strict confines of the principle and apply it to the facts in hand,
without applying any prior knowledge.
The paper setters generally come up with principles which are on the fringes of reason (a good
example could be; any person who speaks in a movie hall and disturbs others that are watching
the movie will be banned from entering any movie theater across India for one year), followed
by four options, out of which two, generally, are very close to each other. They deliberately
create a situation where there would be a scope of applying outside/prior knowledge, leading to
the wrong conclusion. And trust us, that scope would be very tempting as well.
Here is where you would need to understand the significance of being patient and not jump into a
conclusion without introspecting the validity of the conclusion vis-a-vis the principle. Hence,
Mantis, the patient Mantis, should be your role-model.

Viper, the daughter of Great Master Viper was born without venomous fangs. Her father, who
relied on his venomous bite to protect the village, was despondent that she could never succeed
him as a warrior, making her feel timid.
But she works hard. Hard enough to develop her own skills. Consistently. And when the time
comes for her to prove herself, she does so. Impeccably. Beating the gorilla bandit who wore an
armor hard enough to shatter her dads fangs when the latter tried to bite him.
Similarly, for every CLAT aspirant, General Knowledge seems like an unexplored island, an
island full of dangers and uncertainty. But, in reality, it is not.
It is simple and requires practice and consistency.
Our concise advise is here. Read a good newspaper everyday, preferably The Hindu. Apart from
providing us with outstanding doses of Current Affairs everyday with its amazing journalistic
quality, this newspaper also helps us in improving our vocabulary and reading speed with its
language.
A while ago, some girl somewhere in our country managed to rank 13th in the UPSC exam just
by reading the newspaper everyday. Not that we are suggesting the newspaper as the exclusive
recourse and not delving beyond, but we are trying to convey the message that you understand
the significance of reading the newspaper everyday.
We also suggest all our students to regard Competition in Focus (they come up with their
monthly editions) as a sacred text, a must-read.
This Awesome Twosome, The Hindu and Competition in Focus, followed for 14 months before
CLAT will make you unconquerable, indomitable in Current Affairs.
Also, any decent book on Static General Knowledge. There are too many of them out there to
chose from. And all of them are, more or less, the same.
It is imperative upon us to mention here that CLAT 2014 carried around 35 marks of static GK,
out of the 50 marks that the GK section (both Current Affairs and Static GK within its ambit)
carries. And CLAT 2013, around 25. Beware, if at all you tend to take static GK lightly!

As John C. Maxwell had once said, Small Practices repeated with consistency everyday lead to
great achievements gained slowly over time.
Tried and Tested.
Make it the Viper way!

Dealing with Current Affairs and Static GK in

CLAT
By Abhik Chakraborty
10 Minutes. Thats the time it will take for you to solve 50 questions in this section. In an exam
like CLAT, where effective time management is the key to cracking it, these 10 minutes have the
ability to change your entire career graph.
And, in my opinion, this section out of all the other sections requires maximum effort.
There is, however, no reason for you to lose sleep over it. One does not need to bury their heads
into multiple newspapers and magazines or sit with those thick static GK books day and night.
One need not be nerdy with this section. Being smart is the trick.
Relax and try to follow the following prescription and you should be able to do fairly well in this
section. (By fairly well, I mean a score of 35, although I feel 40 should be the target).

The section is divided into questions from both Current Affairs and Static GK. Current Affairs is
essentially going to be the stuff out there in mainstream media over the entire year. On the other
hand, when it comes to Static GK, the paper can have questions from any sphere of life!

Current Affairs in CLAT

Mugging up will not help. You need to fall in love with the affairs of the world, or atleast make
an effort to do so. I have tried to equate the sources from which you should study to the types of
affairs that one has in life.
And you have to be a wily romantic, knowing when to romance each one of them, all the while
keeping in mind your goal to score 40 in the section.
Thus, the three quintessential affairs in the next one year of life should be with:
1. One Newspaper: Should be treated as a wife. Preferably should be The Hindu (Although my
point is evident, I would like to put a disclaimer that I am not the RSS mouthpiece). Indian
Express is also recommended.
Requires daily attention, can be boring at times, nevertheless, it is indispensable. Also, on a more
serious note, it helps immensely, if you note down stuff from the paper for revision before the
CLAT-day.
Oh and do not even dare to leave out the editorials.
2. One Monthly Magazine: Should be treated as your extra-marital affair.Fall in love with PD.
She will take care of the rest.
Needs weekly attention, but dont you dare hamper your marriage with The Hindu, thinking
that PD will be able to take care of all your needs. Neither should it be vice -versa. Always
remember, your needs are a lot and you need both of them (a la Vicky Christina Barcelona).

And in case you are starting now, try getting hold of the earlier copies from the month of June.
(For those who dont know, by PD, I mean Pratiyogita Darpan).
3. One Annual Magazine: Should join the scheme of things at the turn of this year.
Either Manorama or its sister, Panorama, will do. Try getting hold of The Hindu- Diary of
Events which is a neat round-up of all that has happened in the preceding year.
Ahoy! Soon, it will be the month of January and with just a few months left for CLAT-day and
most of you will be busy with Boards as well, so,you need to juggle between all three (The
Hindu, PD and Pano/Mano) and juggle sensibly, giving adequate attention to each, while
working your way to the magical figure of 40 in this section.
Besides the above affairs, you can also have occasional dalliances with various supplements
from different online sources or your coaching centre. In addition, if you want and if you have
time, you can also follow a weekly magazine like Frontline or Outlook.

Static GK for CLAT

Even if it is explicitly mentioned on the CLAT website that only current affairs will come, DO
NOT believe them. Ask anyone who has written CLAT 2012, he/she will tell you why.
A basic knowledge of History, Geography and Sciences will suffice. Since its a wild competition
for those top 200 odd seats, Id suggest you to try to flip through the pages of the big, fat blue
Pearsons book on General Knowledge to stay ahead in the race.
I reiterate, do not just mug up.If you do so, nothing will register in your head. Take interest. To
generate interest, have frequent discussions with fellow CLAT aspirants about FDI, US
presidential elections and the like rather than discussing Saifeena weddings.
If possible, try to study in small groups and share notes.
Do not fret. Stay Calm. Enjoy the prep.

Dont apply your own knowledge to answer a legal reasoning question!

Legal Aptitude/Legal Reasoning has always been my favorite section of the CLAT papers. I
might be biased now as I have spent over 5 years of my life trying to teach, mostly a reluctant
audience, how to crack legal aptitude questions.
However, even when I think of my NLS entrance test, I distinctly remember going to the last few
pages of the test paper and attempting the legal aptitude section first.
For me, unlike few other sections, legal reasoning question require no prior knowledge and the
questions come with a hint (wink wink). How easy can it get?
x
Let me try and explain it with a few examples:
Facts: Roshan, a famous gangster, moves into an apartment in Kankurgachi, Calcutta. There, he
discovers that the previous owner of the apartment had left behind a pair of beautiful ivory
handled combs. Mesmerized by their beauty and confused as to whom he should be returning
them to, he decides to retain them and starts using them. The previous owner of the combs gets
to know this and registers an FIR for theft against Roshan. Is Roshan liable ?
Principle: Whoever dishonestly takes away any property from the possession of another, with an
intention of such taking away, without his permission is liable for theft.
Options:
a. Roshan is liable for theft as he failed to return the property even when he knew it was someone
elses property.

b. Roshan is not liable as he is not taken it away from anyone elses possession and there was no
dishonest intention.
c. Roshan is liable as you dont expect anything better from a gangster.
d. Roshan is not liable as he was confused as to whom he should be returning the property to.
Explanation: Just apply the principle (the hint) to the facts and you will get the answer. In the
above mentioned example, by applying the principle to the facts, I would ask myself: Did Roshan
dishonestly take-away any property from the possession of another? The answer is no.
There is no need for you to wonder what Roshan should have done when he found the property,
because you were not asked that question. Hence the correct answer would be option B.

Facts: The state of Hindustan Pradesh comes out with a law, which provided for reservation to
Muslims in all government and government aided institutions. This law challenged in the High
Court of Hindustan Pradesh, as being arbitrary and contrary to the established laws. Can the
challenge be successful?
Principle: The state shall make special laws for the upliftment of citizens of the country, and
these laws can be made for the benefit of any specific caste, class or sex of people living in the
society.
a. Yes, since people from other religions would also start making such demands, which would
jeopardize the unity and integrity of the country.
b. No, since the state has the right to make special laws for the upliftment of the citizens of the
country.
c. Yes, since the state has not been mandated to make reservation, based on a persons religion.
d. No, since the Government cannot neglect the minorities.
Explanation: If you apply the principle to the facts in this case, the main question that you will
have to answer would be: Did Hindustan Pradesh by providing reservation to Muslims in all

government and government aided institutions make a special law for the benefit of people
belonging to any specific caste, class or sex?
Clearly not, Hindustan Pradesh made special law for the benefit of people belonging to a
particular religion. Hence the correct answer to this question will be option C.
x
In my experience, most people make similar mistakes in the legal reasoning question. A very
common mistake is applying your own knowledge to the question.
If you have read about State reservation based on religion being allowed in India and you use
that knowledge to answer the above question, you will get the wrong answer.
Remember, via legal reasoning questions CLAT wants to check your aptitude and not your
knowledge of the law.
All you need to do is to read the facts and the principle carefully and simply apply the principle
to the facts. Like I said before, legal reasoning question require no prior knowledge and the
questions come with a hint (wink wink).

Diwakar is a graduate of NLSIU, Bangalore.

Tort is the French equivalent of the English word wrong. It is derived from the Latin
term tortum and implies conduct which is twisted or tortiuous. It means a breach of some duty
independent of contract giving rise to a civil cause of action and for which compensation is

recoverable. A civil injury for which an action for damages will not lie is not a tort, e.g., public
nuisance, for which no action for damages will lie by a member of the public.
The person committing a tort or wrong is called a tort-feasor or wrong-doer and his misdoing is a
tortuous act. The principal aim of the law of torts is compensation of victims or their dependants.
Tort & Contract
There is a well-marked distinction between a tort and a contract. A contract is founded upon
consent: a tort is inflicted against or without consent.
A tort is a violation of a right in rem, i.e., of a right vested in some determinate person, either
personally or as a member of the community, and available against the world at large: whereas a
breach of contract is an infringement of a right in personam, i.e., of a right available only against
some determinate person or body, and in which the community at large has no concern. The
distinction between the two lies in the nature of the duty that is violated. In the case of a tort, the
duty is one imposed by the law and is owed to the community at large. In the case of a contract,
the duty is fixed by the will and consent of the parties, and it is owed to a definite person or
persons. Thus, if A assaults B, or damages Bs property without lawful cause or excuse, it is a
tort. Here the duty violated is a duty imposed by the law and that is the duty not to do unlawful
harm to the person or property of another. But if A agrees to sell goods to B for a price, and
either party fails to perform the contract, the case is one of a breach of contract. The duty that is
violated is a specific duty owed by either party to the other alone, as distinguished from a general
duty owed to the community at large.
In a breach of contract, damages are only the compensation. In an action for tort to the property,
they are generally the same. But when the injury is to the person, character or feelings and the
facts disclose improper motive or conduct such as a motive, malice, violence, cruelty or the like
which aggravate the plaintiffs injury, he may be rewarded aggravated damages.

Tort and Crime

A tort is also widely different from a crime. First, a tort is an infringement of the private or civil
rights belonging to individuals considered as individuals; whereas crime is a breach of public
rights and duties which affect the whole community considered as a community. Secondly, in
tort, the wrong-doer has to compensate the injured party: whereas, in crime, he is punished by
the state in the interests of society. Thirdly, in tort, the action is brought by the injured party: in
crime, the proceedings are conducted in the name of the state and the guilty person is punished
by the state.
Constituents of Tort
The law of torts is fashioned as an instrument for making people adhere to standards of
reasonable behavior and respect the rights and interests of one another. To constitute a tort or a
civil injury (1) there must be a wrongful act committed by a person; (2) the wrongful act must
give rise to legal damage or actual damage, and (3) the wrongful act must be of such a nature as
to give rise to a legal remedy in the form of an action for damages.
Wrongful Act
An act which, prima facie, appears to be innocent may become tortious, if it invades the legal
right of another person. To every right there corresponds an obligation or duty. If the right is
legal, so is the obligation; if the right is contingent, imaginary or moral, so is the obligation. A
right in its main aspect consists in doing something, or receiving and accepting something. So an
obligation consists in performing some act or in refraining from performing an act. The duty with

which the law of torts is concerned is the duty to abstain from willful injury, to respect the
property of others and to use due diligence to avoid causing harm to others.
Liability for a tort arises, therefore, when the wrongful act complained of amounts either to an
infringement of a legal private right or a breach of violation of a legal duty.
Damage
Damage means the harm or loss suffered or presumed to be suffered by a person as a result of
some wrongful act of another. The sum of money awarded by court to compensate damage is
called damages.
The real significance of legal damage is illustrated by two maxims, namely, injuria sine
damno and damnum sine injuria. By damnum is meant damage in the substantial sense of
money, loss of comfort, service, health or the like. By injuria is meant a tortious act; it need not
be willful and malicious; for though it be accidental, if it be tortious, an action will lie. Any
unauthorized interference, however trivial, with some absolute right conferred by law on a
person, is an injury, e.g. the right of excluding others from ones house or garden.
In case of injuria sine damno, i.e. the infringement of an absolute private right without any actual
loss or damage, the person whose right is infringed has a cause of action. Every person has an
absolute right to his property and an infringement of this right is actionable per se. Trespass to
person, that is assault, battery and false imprisonment and trespass to property whether it be land
or goods and libel are instances of torts that are actionable per se and the court is bound to award
to the plaintiff at least nominal damages if no actual damages is proved.
Act and Omission
In order to constitute a tort there must be a wrongful act. The word act in this context is used in
a wide sense to include both positive and negative acts, i.e. acts and omissions. Wrongful acts
which make a person liable in tort are positive acts and sometimes omissions. Acts and omissions
must be distinguished from natural occurrences beyond human control such as lightening and
earthquake for which a person cannot be held liable.

Failure to do something in doing an act is not an omission but a bad way of performing the act.
For example, if a lawyer gives an opinion without taking notice of the change in law brought
about by a reported decision of the Supreme Court, he would not be guilty of an omission but of
performing the act of giving his opinion in a bad way. An omission is the failure to do an act as
a whole.

Voluntary/Involuntary Acts and Mental Elements

An involuntary act does not give rise to any liability. For example, an involuntary act of trespass
is not a tort. Involuntary acts are those where the actor lacks the power to control his actions and
involuntary omissions are those where the actors lack of power to control his actions renders
him unable to do the act required.

Even a voluntary act, except in those cases where the liability is strict (we will deal with that in
our subsequent article), is not enough to fasten liability and it has to be accompanied with
requisite mental element, i.e. malice, intention, negligence or motive to make it an actionable tort
assuming that other necessary ingredients of the tort are present.
Malice
Malice in the popular sense means spite or ill-will. But in law malice has two distinct meanings:
(1) Intentional doing of a wrongful act and (2) Improper motive.

In its legal sense, malice means a wrongful act, done intentionally, without just cause or
excuse. If I give a stranger a blow likely to produce death, I do it out of malice, because I do it
intentionally and without just cause or excuse.

The word wrongful imports the infringement of some right, i.e. some interest which the
law recognizes and protects.

But where a man has the right to do an act, it is not possible to make his exercise of such
right actionable by alleging or proving that his motive in the exercise was spite or malice in
the popular sense. A wrongful act, done knowingly and with a view to its injurious
consequences, may be called malicious: But such malice derives essential character from the
circumstances that the act is intentionally done and constitutes a violation of the law.
Intention

It is common knowledge that the thought of man shall not be tried, for the devil himself
knoweth not the thought of the man
Intention is an internal fact, something which passes in the mind and direct evidence of which is
not available. An act is intentional as to its consequences if the person concerned has the
knowledge that they would result and also the desire that they should result.
Motive
Intention

Motive

Intention relates to the immediate objective of

Motive refers to the ulterior objective

the act
Intention need not be related to some personal

Motive refers to some personal benefit or

benefit or satisfaction of the actor

satisfaction which the actor desires

When A poisons B, the immediate objective is to

kill B and so this is As intention

The ulterior objective of A may be to secure Bs

estate by inheritance or under a will executed by
him and this objective will be As motive

An act which does not amount to a legal injury cannot be actionable because it is done
with a bad motive. It is the act, not the motive for the act, which must be regarded.

The exceptional cases where motive is relevant as an ingredient are torts of malicious
prosecution, malicious abuse of process and malicious falsehood. Motive is also relevant in
the torts of defamation, nuisance and conspiracy.

Illustration:
If a man throws a stone at a woman, his trespass to her person is intentional; that is he threw it
because she had jilted him would be immaterial in determining his liability in trespass that
would be his motive. If he did not throw the stone for the purpose of hitting her but ought to have
foreseen that it was likely that the stone would hit her, his act would be unintentional but
nevertheless negligent. If the stone hit her solely because it rebounded off a tree at which he had
thrown it his conduct would be voluntary; and the hit would be accidental. But, if, while he was
holding the stone in his hand, a third party seized his arm and by twisting it compelled him to
release his hold on it, whereupon it fell on the woman, his conduct would be involuntary and
could never give rise to liability on his part. Two comments here are necessary. In the case where
the stone thrown at a tree rebounds and hits the woman it is assumed that the risk that the stone
on rebound may hit the woman could not be reasonably foreseen which negatives negligence,
and therefore, it is an accident though the act of throwing the stone is voluntary. In this case also
there will be no liability. In the last case, where a third person twists the arm of the person
holding the stone and the stone gets released, the act of the person holding the stone is
involuntary and so he would not be liable for trespass; but, the person twisting the arm and
compelling the release of the stone so that it may hit the woman will be guilty of trespass.
The English section in the CLAT presents unique challenges and difficulties when compared to
the other sections appearing in the same paper.

The lack of a definitive body of questions and topics that might be tested, in addition to the
idiosyncrasies of the language itself, present itself as a bottleneck in the context of preparing for
the examination.
On account of the same, it is very easy to get waylaid with ones preparation, or even worse,
disillusioned with a defeatist attitude assuming that the course is beyond ones capabilities.
However, with a modicum of basic ground work and diligence and a structured way of going
about ones preparation, it is simple to inculcate a degree of proficiency in the subject which
shall go on to serve you well with respect to not just the CLAT but shall also stand you in good
stead with future endeavours.
Preparation for the English section can broadly be broken into three heads: Grammar,
Comprehension skills and Vocabulary development.
Instead of following the mundane and repetitive method of trying to improve ones vocabulary
and comprehension skills through a vocabulary bank, foreign phrases and the like, the trick to
facilitate a holistic pattern of learning is to subsume preparation for English under preparation
for other topics such as General Knowledge and Logical Reasoning in addition to Legal
Aptitude.
The most obvious example of the same is brushing up on ones General Knowledge by reading
the paper, specifically the editorial pages, thereby increasing comprehension skills at the same
time.
Preparation for Logical Reasoning can also lend to studying for the English section as problems
such as analogies, parajumbles etc. have a foundation in the deductive process which Logical
Reasoning seeks to improve.
While preparing under each broad head, it is pertinent to firstly and most importantly, imbibe a
feel for the language itself, as more often than not the questions in the English section can be
answered by anyone who by virtue of speaking or reading the language is comfortable with
common phrases, words etc. and who, most importantly, can gauge whether a particular sentence
on account of it being structured differently from the sentences encountered during ones general
reading, is grammatically wrong.

Once you have imbibed a habit for reading and developed a feel for the language, you can start
working in tandem on its structural aspect to ensure that your preparation is beyond reproach and
to enable you to understand why a particular sentence is wrong, i.e knowing why the sentence is
wrong as opposed to merely knowing that the sentence is wrong, thereby enabling you to identify
mistakes, grammatical or otherwise, in a quicker manner.
Therefore it is imperative to build a work ethic involving regular reading, after which you can
start working on your structural grammar. Since the former would also involve increasing your
comprehension skills and speed, youd be killing two birds with one stone.
For working on your structural grammar, it would help to get hold of any book purporting to
cover the basics in English Grammar, such as Wren and Martin, with appended exercises to
enable you to learn while testing your acquired knowledge at the same time.
Pay attention to specific topics and attempt to learn the basic rules of grammar and subsequently
solve practice exercises under topics such as Articles, Verbs-their formation and usage,
familiarise yourself with Active and Passive voice, and attempt to get a grasp on subject-verb
agreement in addition to phrasal verbs and Conditionals.
Get acquainted with figures of speech such as Idioms, Similes, Metaphors and the like through
your normal course of reading in addition to reference to a compendium.
The internet presents a treasure-trove of resource materials, that you shouldnt be averse to
tapping into in order to facilitate quicker and more immersive forms of learning.
Since even the simple act of reading shall help improve your proficiency in the language,
identify a number of topics that provoke your interest, be it geo-politics, national news, sport
editorials, technology etc. and attempt to become knowledgeable with regard to it.
Thereby, you the chance to hone a nascent interest, or maybe even discover a latent interest,
while also enhancing your proficiency in the subject.
The method of preparation in English is not diametrically different from preparing for any other
section, in the sense that even in this instance it involves diligence and focus in the form of
reading and practicing.

However, the difference kicks in with respect to how you manipulate your sources, be it through
novels, grammar books, newspapers etc., in order to extract maximum benefit out of the same to
enable you to learn, while at the same time not being daunted by the vastness of the subject, and
preserving your drive and motivation to learn.
It is important to devote a substantial period of time for increasing your proficiency through an
incremental approach, as opposed to attempting to imbibe as many new words, phrases etc. you
can a few days or weeks before the exam as all nuance and subtlety that the language possesses
is lost in the process, in addition to the obvious difficulty of drastically improving ones reading
comprehension skills and speed drastically right before the exam itself.
Honestly, the search for a one size fits all method of preparation for English and by extension
even the CLAT, is an exercise doomed to be futile. Any preparation regime is primarily a
question of comfort and maximising your learning potential by playing to your interests and
studying smartly.
To that end, it is important to ensure that the process of learning isnt condemned to being
repetitive and boring in order to preserve your interest in the subject.
Therefore, adopt a flexible regime and make sure you arent saturated with any particular method
of learning; alternate between reading books, magazines and online sources, in the event you get
bored of any particular medium over a period of time.
By setting yourself intermediate goals and following a structured schematic for learning, the
English section in the CLAT can be transformed from a liability into your strong suit.

Monkey is the friendliest and most approachable of the five. Monkey is the first to recognize his
friends determination, appreciating them and informing them that they all will succeed in their
quests.
He seems to harbor the strongest sense of humor also.
Similarly, English is the first one amongst the furious five in CLAT. It is
the easiest, friendliest and the mostapproachable one. It looks after every aspirants aspiration,

helps them with their confidence and pushes them forward, thus, providing them with
happiness.
Comprehension, Vocabulary and Grammar.
The English section of every single entrance exam deals with these there important aspects of
English. There is no dearth of materials pertaining to these three aspects of English, both online
as well as offline.
For vocabulary, clichd as it may sound, read the editorials. Look up common Latin, French,
Spanish and Japanese words.
Look up synonyms and antonyms of random words.
Carry a pocket Dictionary at all times. It does help.
Work through the book Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis.
Read as many passages as you can and solve questions that follow for Comprehension practice.
Practice is the key word here.
Grammar has Sentence Completion, Sentence Correction, Sentence Transformation, Phrasal
Verbs and Spellings. You already have dealt with all these while you were in School. Pick up one
good book on grammar and brush them up, all over again.

The English section of CLAT holds 40 precious marks. This section is quite easy to score in if
the student follows a disciplined way of study. At the onset it must be mentioned that it is
necessary to supplement studying English texts with speaking in English. The English section is
meant to examine an individuals base in English through MCQ questions. The fact that the
questions are MCQ poses a challenge to students because the options are deliberately kept very
similar to each other. The test lies in whether the student is able to discern the most appropriate
answer from those provided.
The students may find the following tips helpful with regard to their preparation for CLAT
English.

Read regularly so that you can gradually develop the habit of speed reading.

Read extensively to get an idea of the different ways in which a word can be used. Do not
restrict your reading to one particular field.

Keep a diary or notebook where you can write down new words which you come across.
Consult the dictionary and write down the meaning of the word along with its origin and part
of speech. Take help from a senior and make a sentence or two with each new word you come
across.

Pay attention to the way in which phrases are used and attempt to grasp the meaning of a
proverb or idiom from the context in which it is placed. Check for the meaning of the idiom
or proverb to see if you are right.

Encourage your family and peers to correct errors in your spoken English. Take note of
these mistakes and try to keep them in mind the next time you speak.

Read the editorials in newspapers and magazines to enrich your vocabulary.

Go through word lists for examinations like TOEFL, GRE and SAT. Identify new words
and find out their meanings. Solve crosswords, play Scrabble and other word games in your
leisure time.

While reading a passage, try to identify the pattern in which it has been constructed.

Write a short paragraph on a topic of your choice every day. Ask a senior to go through
your writing and point out your errors.

It is common knowledge that CLAT English does not have a fixed syllabus. However if one were
to go through the question papers of the previous years, a number of recurring question types can
be identified. They include:

Reading Comprehension

Theme

Specific Detail

Tone

Implied Idea

Identifying the structure of the passage

Choosing a title for the passage

Application based questions

Grammar

Use of articles (a, an, the)

Error Correction

Identification of Part of Speech

Subject-Verb Agreement

Tenses

Parallelism

Active and Passive Speech

Direct and Indirect Speech

Punctuation

Fill in the Blanks

Jumbled Sentences

Spelling Correction

Idioms and Proverbs

Synonyms and Antonyms

Migratory Words

Transformation of Sentences (Assertive, negative, interrogative and exclamatory)

Identifying meanings of words

Sentence Completion

Collective Nouns and Sounds

Analogies

Legal Vocabulary

Homonyms and Homophones

Paired Words

Keep yourself focused during your preparation time and pay attention to detail. This will help
you greatly in attempting the CLAT English questions.

Pranjal Singh, English Faculty

Read the passage thoroughly in the first instance; dont merely skim through the passage.

You dont have to be able to recall all the details of the passage after the first read, however you
must be able to have a general idea of the scheme of the passage and generally what each
paragraph. In the alternative you can also read the questions first and then attempt to read the
passage to see what parts are relevant. You can employ either approach depending on your
comfort level.

Before you start reading the questions, attempt to crystallize the theme of the passage in

your head so that you have some context while solving the passage
As a rule of thumb, if a particular option does not fit in with the theme of the passage or
contradicts it, you can rule it out.

The questions often fall into broad categories. For instance:

a) Questions relating to selecting an appropriate name for the passage, intention of the author,
drawing of conclusions on the basis of the passage etc. can often be answered by keeping in
mind the theme of the passage.
b) Questions that need you to identify details from the passage can generally be answered by
referring to the part of the passage that deals with the question. Read the relevant part again and
answer the question.

Dont answer the questions after reading the passage only once. You dont have to read the

entire passage several times, but ensure that you re-read the relevant part while answering the
questions.

Dont blindly select an option as the correct answer because it seems correct to you at first.

Keep in mind that some questions might be designed to trick you. Therefore, first select what
you think is the most viable option and then proceed to reason out why the other options are not
correct and eliminate

CLAT/AILET as an exam is all about maintaining your composure while you are writing the
paper.
There might be a point during the exam when you would blank out, completely. It is a very
common manifestation of such an exam, simply because you have prepared for this exam for
months together and have put in both a lot of physical as well as mental effort into it.
Do not succumb to such a situation. Do Not.
Remember, you have worked very hard for this exam. It is not that people around you are way
smarter than you. If the paper is difficult for you, it is difficult for everyone uniformly. One of
CLATapults founders had such an experience while he was writing CLAT in 2008.
He did flounder. But he sensed that he had worked very hard for this exam. No way is it possible
for someone else to be extraordinarily better than him. After this story flashed in his head, and
two minutes after he blanked out, he re-gained complete control of the situation. He started
solving the questions, instantly. Had he not wasted those two minutes, he could have been in
NALSAR and not in NUJS.
So, the moral of the story is to stay composed and solve the paper.

Secondly, focus is an indispensable criterion to successfully complete the paper. When you read
a question, or a comprehension passage, read it once and for all. Do not re-read it. Remember,
you cannot afford to re-read it. Re-reading even 1/4th of the paper is going to consume good
enough a chunk of those 120 minutes to leave you stranded way behind everyone else.
Read each question once. Read it properly. Solve the question. And the only way to do it is
through focus. Be focused. Do not think of the previous five questions that you have solved. Do
not think if they are right or wrong. Do not think of the questions that you are yet to solve. Focus
on what you are working on. That will remove a lot of weight from your head.
Thirdly, have a proper strategy in place. Start with General Knowledge. We did that. Finish it in
10 minutes. Then go to English. Finish it in 20 minutes. Then solve Legal and Logic, in an order
you are comfortable with.
You have to ensure that you finish these two sections in an hour and ten minutes. Not more than
70 minutes. You should at least have 20 minutes for Maths.
Maths is mark-fetching. That could be a game-changer. People appearing CLAT traditionally
have been Maths-phobic. This is where you can beat them.
This is a strategy, as a clarification, we followed when we had appeared CLAT six years back.
We have come across people who solve the paper as per their own comfort. You, obviously, have
the freedom to solve it in a manner you are most efficient with.
Best of Luck

So the time for the final showdown is dawning near and the question is how you can gear up for
it in the last and the most important month before CLAT examination.
First thing you need to do is, RELAX ! CLAT is one of the easiest entrance exams in the
undergraduate level in India, so derive pleasure looking at the medical and engineering aspirants.
Relative misery is helpful. It takes a lot of burden off your shoulder. Take my word for it!
First of all I shall love to share a few tips for the hardworking and diligent students who have
been working for a year or more and then I shall have a few words for the studs who just started
preparing in the month of April ( I am one of them).
Now those of you who have been working for a long time now, 80% of your job to acquire a
ticket to an NLU is done. But the remaining 20% is very tricky and tedious. I have seen some
very smart people who worked hard throughout two years and, in the end, couldnt make it
to any NLU because of their complacent attitude in the last one month. The thing with CLAT
is you dont need to work very hard but you have to work smart regularly. Never be in the false
illusion that since youve been working hard for such a long time you can afford to be
completely relaxed in the last month. You simply cant! But then the good thing is you dont
have to work as hard as the crash course students. All you have to do is revise and practice what
you already know.That shall take only 5-7 hours a day. CLAT is not about your immense
knowledge (I know thats sad) but is about its application.
And coming to the studs, you all are Alpha males and females and one month is more than
enough for you all. Complete the entire syllabi by the first week (Dont complain, it is very much
feasible). And by completion of the entire syllabi, I dont mean that if a test is taken after a week,
youll score 100+ in the test but if youre given 3 hours instead of 2 you will be able to answer
most of the questions correctly.
If you are done with the syllabus in a week, you will have enough time to improvise upon your
preparation which will change your scores from dismal 60s to 130s. So, dont even think that
youve only a month and you cannot get into an NLU. Dont give yourself preposterous excuses
to survive.

And an advice for both the aforementioned categories, give as many mock tests you can and
dont let the scores fill you up with despair. Mock examination is the place where you make all
possible mistakes. Youre supposed to do that!

How to prepare for CLAT in the last month Subject-wise Tips

1.

English: Dont be afraid of this subject. I know some of youre. Dont escape from it but
face it. There are only three to four topics you need to know for the grammar part and your
work is done. The topics I believe you need to work upon are Tense, Usage of tense, the
Verb : Person and number, Agreement of the Verb with the subject. And get an Objective
English book (preferably Tata McGraw Hill) which the civil service aspirants use and you
can work upon correction of sentences, vocabulary, one words and other things which you
think to be important from this book. Just go through the 100-150 words in the vocab
section because you will need 9 lives of a cat to complete Oxford Dictionary (Dont even
think about it! Some crazy people actually try that shit).

2.

GK: Ah! This is where I screwed up. I scored 16 only. So I actually know what you need
to do in order to avoid a complete fiasco. You have no choice but to complete Pearson or
Manorama Year Book or the Universals big fat book for CLAT preparation. Dont try to
read a set of question and answers from any book. You wont remember anything. Study the
way you studied History, Geography and other subjects for your Class X boards. This was
static GK. For current affairs refer to any online websites where there all the important
current affairs are compacted in a compendium for every month. That will work just fine.
Or go for the Competition in Focus Magazine. They have a March14-March15 edition
which covers almost everything relevant for CLAT. !

3.

Logical reasoning: You dont really need to be advised about this section. Just complete
Universal and the books provided and suggested to you by your mentors. And practice it
regularly.

4.

Legal reasoning: This is the easiest and the most scoring section of all. Read the basics of
Tort and Contract and thats all. Try to solve 50 questions within 30 minutes. And first read
the facts and then the principle. Sometimes you can just read the facts and infer the answers
without any need to read the principle (But try this only if youve practised a lot).

5.

Mathematics: Finally we reach the one of the most dreaded sections among all CLAT
aspirants. First advice, dont be scared and dont even think that you will prepare 180 marks
for CLAT. The numerical problems in CLAT are too easy and I dont want you all to regret
the fact that you didnt prepare Maths. Complete the modules provided by your mentors
which is comprised of easy problems that acquaint you with the sums that generally come
in the paper. Then go for tougher problems. My advice would be to get the Quantitative
Aptitude book used by CAT aspirants. The book introduces you to clever tricks on each and
every topic and makes your mathematical skills smarter.

Now that I have summarised on all the topics, I can finally come to the most important topic
about how to hold your nerve throughout this treacherous and sinister month and on the day of
the exam. Take a deep breath in! By now am sure some of you nervous freaks are getting those
panic attacks regularly and youre suffering from anxiety disorder thinking what shall happen if
you dont crack CLAT? Nothing will happen! Youll still be alive and kicking (Thats what
matters all the time) unless and until youve a heart attack one of these days (My heartfelt
condolences for the prospective deceased). So dont be nervous. Believe in yourself that you can
do it. Get an inspiring playlist in your cell phones and mp3 players. Include songs like Eye of the
Tiger, I get Knocked Down!, and Lord Dont Move the Mountain (You get to listen to nice songs
on the pretext of CLAT preparation). So give whatever youve this month and procrastinate all
the happening events, and after two months you will be in a NLU.

So now that everything is said, BEST OF LUCK !

Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2015 is expected to see nearly 35,000 law aspirants slug
it out for around 1,800 seats available in top national law universities (NLUs). Students who
have already finished Class 12 from any stream, that is, science, commerce or humanities can
take the CLAT. CLAT is a two-hourlong multiple choice question (MCQ)based test with the
following five subjects: English and comprehension: 40 marks General knowledge and current
affairs: 50
Elementary mathematics (up to class 10): 20 Legal aptitude: 50
Logical reasoning: 40 The first and foremost thing any CLAT aspirant should do is improve
his/her reading speed. Most of us read around 250 words per minute (wpm). The questions in
CLAT can easily make 10,000 words. It should take an average Tom nearly 40 minutes to just
read the question paper. If your reading speed is 500 words per minute, the time taken reduces
to 20 minutes. Reading Tony Buzans book on Speed Reading should do well for your needs. The
second thing is to learn some memory techniques. A good memory is an asset for anyone and the
best of the lawyers have elephantine memories!
Learning memory techniques can make memorising large chunks of information fun! Again Tony
Buzans book on this subject will be of immense help though you can choose an Indian
equivalent too. After doing these two basic things, you can follow the below section-wise
strategy.
English: Make sure you read a lot. Read good newspapers (Hindustan Times or The Hindu) and
good magazines (India Today, Outlook or Pratiyogita Darpan). For comprehension, you can first
glance over the questions. This way you can know what to look for when you read the passage.
Read Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis to improve your vocabulary. For grammar,
revise your Wren and Martin.
General knowledge and current affairs: Do Pearsons Concise GK Manual from page to page.
While reading the newspaper and the magazine, take notes. Take special interest in law related
news. If you want you can also buy Manoramas Yearbook to make sure that you dont miss out
on any key event.

Maths: Maths questions in CLAT are of an elementary level. Whatever is taught up to class 10 is
enough. CBSE students should consult ICSE syllabus and vice versa. Practice! Try to understand
the logic behind the numbers and then go for the short-cut formulas. Dont just learn the
formulas.
Legal aptitude: Buy Universals Guide on CLAT for legal knowledge. Legal reasoning is logical
reasoning in a legal setting. Good grasp of English helps because sometimes the facts of a legal
reasoning problem or the principle might be a twisted language. Get hold of any good CLAT
coaching institutions study material.
Logical reasoning: Many argue that logical reasoning cant be taught. However, thats wrong.
Every one of us makes logical fallacies every day. By practising logical reasoning questions, you
can start thinking in a logically sound fashion. Also go through previous years question papers.

Legal reasoning as we all know is the sine qua non (google it to know what it means!) of the
Common Law Admission test. This section is of 50 marks and is important given the fact that in
case of a tie, ranks are decided on the basis of your marks in this section.
In this section, your aptitude is judged on the basis of reasoning questions. A logical reasoning
question based on law makes a legal reasoning question. It gives you a legal principle and asks
you to identify the legal consequences on the basis of a given set of facts. You need to apply the
principle to the facts and identify the most appropriate option. There might be more than one
correct answer and you have to identify the option which is the most correct and
appropriate. Now, one more thing that needs to be borne in mind is that you should never
question the given facts. Never assume anything in law and go by the given facts only.
And then comes the Golden Rule to solve all legal reasoning questions, the cardinal rule as
you may call it the PRINCIPLE is always right. While solving a legal reasoning question,
whatever prior legal knowledge you have, all of it is to be kept aside. Go strictly by what the
principle mentions, even if you feel it is the quite opposite of what the law should be. After all
the principle is always right.

The principle might say that anyone who speaks inside a cinema hall and causes disturbance
shall be banned from entering a cinema hall for one year. Even if you know that it is not true in a
real sense, you must follow it assuming it is the truth.
However the CLAT question paper does not follow any specific pattern and is still in the process
of trying to figure out its identity and what it wants an aspirant to be prepared for exactly. So you
should be prepared for everything and enter the examination hall without any handicaps. For
instance, last year the CLAT committee said that all 50 questions will be of legal reasoning, but
when the question paper came, it was mostly legal GK. Similarly, in 2011, all questions were of
legal reasoning when the trend back then was to have questions both from Legal Reasoning and
Legal GK. Sometimes legal reasoning questions may not have principles, as it happened in
CLAT 2012.

Now there are certain specific types of questions that come. The questions may be of one
principle type or more than one principle type. If there is a single principle then apply it and get
the answer. If there are more than one principle, read one in the light of another as you apply it to
the facts. Also, constitutional reasoning questions will be based on assertion-reason. But if you
know the basics of the Part III of the constitution well, you wont find it difficult to score very
well in this section. Get a copy of the bare act of the constitution Part III, skim through it a
couple of times and understand the crux of the rights mentioned in there.
Now there are a few other important things that need to be kept in mind while solving Legal
Reasoning. Do not fall into an emotional trap, i.e do not pick an option out of emotion or just

because you think it is right. For instance, a person A goes to a shop and purchases something
and the shopkeeper gives him back 100 rupee notes which are fake. When he reaches home and
realises that they are counterfeit, it is too late for the day and he decides that he will inform the
police the next morning. But the same night there is a raid and he is held guilty of the crime of
counterfeiting. Now you might think that he was going to inform the police the very next day so
he should not be held guilty. This is exactly what the emotional trap is and how the paper-setters
try to confuse and induce you into committing an error. If the principle says that possession and
knowledge of fake currency constitutes the crime of counterfeiting then the said person above is
liable.Do not pick up preachy answer choices. This includes examples where you pick up
choices which offer a moral perspective to the problem. Say a person kills someone in self
defence. This is murder but there will be no liability here because this is a defence. Here you
should not pick up answer choices which say that the person is liable because murder is wrong
and he should be punished because he has killed someone.
While solving reasoning questions, one simple way to help you reach to the correct option is
to eliminate options. Now, after this, if two answer choices are very close to each other and you
are confused between them, then always chose the option which is closer to the principle and
the question. Also, each and every word is important and could be the deciding factor, so
pay attention to the every single detail. In pursuance of that, you could look for commas,
indicators such as or, and, provided, unless etc.
The only way to get legal reasoning questions correct is practice (we want to say that five
times right here right now, but we hope you get the point). And after each set of questions that
you practice, you need to figure out where you went wrong and dont make the same mistake
again.
Lastly, many students have this common query about what needs to be read firstthe facts or the
principle. The ideal way is to read the principle first and then go to the facts and, later, get it
cross-checked with the principle in case of any confusion. Patience is the key while you read
the principle in Legal Reasoning. At times, when you start reading a principle, you feel you
have done the question before and you proceed to mark the answer without reading the rest of
the question. And then it turns out to be wrong.
We are sure if you follow our words diligently, acing the Legal Reasoning section and, hopefully,
the entire paper should not be very difficult.

Good luck!

In hindsight, law does seem a very natural career path to me. But back in 2010, it was a last
chance alternative which I had accidentally stumbled upon.
After class 10th, and despite opinion of the teachers who sought to direct me towards economics,
I had taken up science stream to pursue engineering and was doing absolutely terribly in both
school and preparation for IIT. Part of my choice was due to my dad being an IIT grad and also
because it was the only choice I had ever considered. But then, ill health took over and I found
no enthusiasm towards studying for engineering. After nearly failing in class 11th, I decided that I
would drop a year to prepare for IITs, but fate had its way and I found out about CLAT.
In Varanasi, the place that I am from, there was very limited awareness about law as a career
choice, at that point of time, and it was only by accident that I found about CLAT and National
Law Schools. A cousin of mine was attempting the paper, and she suggested that I look into the
same. I cursorily glanced at the past year papers and to my surprise, I found them very pleasant
to solve. I decided to put all my energies towards CLAT, and after procuring necessary course
material, started solving problems on my own.
I had only twenty days of preparation via a crash course, and though I felt slightly
underprepared, I was confident in my abilities to crack CLAT. There was a tremendous amount
of pressure on me at that point of time, as my board results had been average at best, and my
NLU-D paper had also not gone very well. The only thing I had going on for me was my
confidence in myself to score well.
The CLAT paper was a very remarkable one. Anyone who has seen the 2011 paper knows that it
has one of the lengthiest English section with four reading comprehensions. So I made this very
pragmatic decision of attempting the Maths section (which I knew to be my weakest) at the end.
One thing that you must remember while attempting a CLAT paper is that no matter what you are
going to face, the most important aspect of actually attempting a paper is keeping your cool.
Often, students put too much weightage on the patterns in the past year question papers and the

mock tests. While it is important to undertake mock-tests to improve your speed and ability
to answer questions under pressure; in the examination hall, you are on your own and
cannot afford to panic at all. That not only reduces your ability to comprehend but also
leads you wasting unnecessary time which is the most precious commodity in an
examination. You should be prepared enough to take decisions on the spot and play to your
strengths.
Second, is to maintain good health and good mood before attempting the paper. I suffered
due to it in my NLU-D paper as I was suffering from a case of bad cold and had argued with a
few friends before entering the examination hall. The result was that my mind was too
preoccupied with the argument and I took too much time in reading the paper and lost significant
time. A simple suggestion would be to stop reading new material about half an hour before the
paper and listen to some songs that sooth you, before you start a final revision. I still follow this
routine in my law school examinations. (My favourite is a band called Explosions in the Sky).
As fate would have it, I cleared the paper with a very good score and got into NUJS. I do think
the fact that I was pragmatic enough the day of the examination helped me get through.
Sometimes all of us overthink and set too much store on what we expect. I have also spoken to a
few of my batch-mates who, like me, were CLAT aspirants back then, and made it through, and
they also agree that being pragmatic and not panicking upon seeing the paper probably
made the difference between them clearing or not-cleaning CLAT.
Lastly, my advice to whoever makes it through to law-school. Being in a college affords you a
lot of freedom, with a lot of opportunities to make new friends, go to new places and
integrate new habits. While all of this is good, do not think of getting into a law-school as the
end of your efforts. All that stereotypical stuff about this being only the start is true. Grades are
going to be very important: right from applying to internships at various places to colleges for
higher studies. Again, this is something that comes from personal experience as I did not focus
on studies at all in the first semester of law-school. I would miss classes and would barely submit
projects on time as I was simply too lazy. I assumed that I would get my act together before the
examination started. The only problem is that hard-work is a habit and it must be practised
continuously. When my results came, it was a miracle that I had not failed any exam. Since then,
I have learnt to pay importance to the classes and allotting time to various components of what is
taught in the course, and my grades have steadily improved. The integrated course being 5 years
long can be a blessing that way, for it allows you to learn and improve from your mistakes.

She looked around. It was 12.30 am. She could clearly hear the wind rustle beside the window.
She could sense that apparitional, eerie figure standing behind that large red curtain, waiting for
the right time to pounce on her.
Her parents had deserted her for the night. She knew that she had to deal with this situation, this
nightmare, on her own.
She had constantly been assuring them that she would be ready to take the challenge head-on.
She was nervous now. Alone, like a Lone Ranger.
She looked at the clock and wondered if she will be able to handle the job formidably. Will she
be able to manage and tackle the enemys might on her own and wade successfully through, she
wondered.
She had no other choice, though, but to go ahead with this and finish her job.
She had already spent a good three minutes wondering about things she had no control
over. She cursed herself and resolved not to waste even a single more minute thinking
about things she cannot afford to think of at this stage.

She looked back at her computer screen.

She had already finished 17 questions from her GK/Current Affairs section.
It was time for her to accelerate her speed and approach. She managed to finish the entire GK
section in 17 minutes. She had 103 more minutes to go. She had to let go of 8 questions from the
GK section because she had no clue, not even the slightest of inkling, about them.
Of the remaining four citadels, she decided to penetrate Legal Reasoning now, which was
fortified in the heaviest manner among all five.
And understandably so. She must siege this fort completely in order to fulfill her dream of
winning the war to pursue her LLB from a premier National Law School. Legal Reasoning and
CLAT are inseparable, she had heard that umpteen number of times.
She plunges in. And, surprisingly, it was not very difficult for her to take command, complete
control of the fort, the biggest one among all.
She was glad and could hear all her comrades applauding her achievement.
And she deserved all the adulation. She had worked very hard to understand the basic nuances
involved in handling this aspect of the war.
Of the fifty questions from the Legal Reasoning section, she had attempted 45 and was sure
about most of them. She decided to proceed further, victorious.
She was feeling tired, mentally. But this was a race, she believed, a war that she cannot
afford to not win. Whosoever is the first person to compel all five forts to surrender scores the
highest, she knew. Also, she must be accurate with the route she is taking. She must put each
step correctly and not falter.
She knew she needs to be fast and accurate.
She discovered that she is 55 minutes into the exam already. She needs to be faster. And the best
way to be faster than her current pursuit was to ambush the easiest fort.

Without wasting even a single more second, she barges into English, her bastion, her stronghold! She had been an avid newspaper reader all her life. She had done her homework well. She
already had subdued the nitty-gritties of this subject before. She confidently finishes it in 25
minutes.
She had 40 minutes left to topple the paper and two important hurdles to cross.
She makes her way into Logical Reasoning first, since she was always Maths-Phobic, a
characteristic feature of almost every CLAT aspirant. She fumbles a bit there and finishes the
section in a little over 30 minutes. In trying to be quick, she lost her focus and spent more time
than she would otherwise do to finish this section.
Her nervousness ensued, adding to her list of foes, thereby making her lose her composure.
She now had to finish the Mathematics section in less than ten minutes, something she has
always dreaded. She managed to pick 6 question, questions she felt through her glance that might
be able to solve.
She, eventually, could finish five.
A gust of wind blows and the curtain unveils that eerie figure she was so horrified of. He rushes
to her with a war-cry, asking her to stop.
Let me fulfill my duty of invigilation! was what he exactly said.*
She finds out her score to be 130. She had expected more. Dissatisfied, she jots down her
shortcomings. She promises to herself that she would improve in the next one by plugging the
loopholes. She swore that she would never be over-confident, something that could be
disastrous for her.
She had decided to settle on a plan of action. 15, 20, 30, 35 and 20 minutes for GK, English,
Logical Reasoning, Legal Reasoning and Maths respectively. She also resolved to stay
focused and not let anything come between her and her composure.
She also realises that time is the essence of the CLAT paper. Rather than looking at those
two hours as one whole, she should focus on the specific time assigned for each subject
while she solves the paper.

For instance, when she starts solving the paper with GK, she must always keep in mind that she
only has ten minutes to finish the section. And, then, when she jump to the next one, i.e English,
she must assume that this section does not permit her to work on it for more than twenty
minutes.
She discovered that, like her, most CLAT aspirants, generally, behave very complacently in
their first hour and tend to accelerate in the second one. This approach slows down their
aggregate speed considerably and is the reason why most well-prepared aspirants do not do
well. Allocation of a specific number of minutes to each section is meant to curb that
tendency.

She decides to make this a habit in the subsequent mocks.

*The ghost standing behind the curtain is a metaphor for the finishing point of the exam. He was
standing there throughout, waiting for his turn to stop her.

CLAT as an exam is all about maintaining your composure while you are writing the paper.
There might be a point during the exam when you would blank out, completely. It is a very
common symptom of such an exam, simply because you have prepared for this exam for months
together and have put in both a lot of physical as well as mental effort into it and, most
importantly, you cannot accept a failure here and let all your hard work and effort go down the
drain.
Do not succumb to such a situation. Do Not.
Remember, you have worked very hard for this exam. It is not that people around you are
smarter than you.If the paper is difficult for you, it is difficult for everyone uniformly.

One of our faculty had such an experience while she was writing CLAT, a few years ago. She did
flounder. But she sensed that she had worked very hard for this exam. No way is it possible for
someone else to be extraordinarily better than her.
After this story flashed in her head, and two minutes after she blanked out, she re-gained
complete control of the situation. She started solving the questions, instantly. Had she not wasted
those two minutes, she could have been in NALSAR and not in NUJS, although she now
believes she is fortunate to be in NUJS.
So, the moral of the story is to stay composed and solve the paper.
Secondly, focus is an indispensable requirement to successfully complete the paper. When you
read a question, or a comprehension passage, read it once and for all. Do not re-read it.
Remember, you cannot afford to re-read it. Re-reading even 1/4th of the paper is going to
consume good enough a chunk of those 120 minutes to leave you stranded way behind everyone
else.

Read each question once. Read it properly. Solve the question. And the only way to do it is
through focus. Be focused. Do not think of the previous five questions that you have solved.
Do not think if they are right or wrong. Do not think of the questions that you are yet to solve.
Focus on what you are working on. That will remove a lot of weight from your head.
Thirdly, have a proper strategy in place. Start with General Knowledge. We, here in CLATapult,
did that when we took our respective CLATs. Finish it in 10 minutes. At most 12. Then go to

English. Finish it in 20 minutes. At most, 22. Then solve Legal and Logic, in an order you are
comfortable with. 30 minutes each.
We would like you to note here that never should you stick to a particular question for a long
time. And never must you stick to a section for a longer time than what we have prescribed here.
There is a reason why we say this. Every section is an amalgamation of easy as well as difficult
questions. The smart way out is to work on the easy questions of one section rather than working
overtime on the difficult ones from another. For instance, if you spend five to seven minutes on
one difficult Logical Reasoning/Maths question, you will be deprived of the affordability of 3-5
English questions or 15-20 GK questions.
At times, you should simply let the question prevail over you and not always the other way

round. Come on! The question also has the right to feel smart about itself.
Jokes apart, you have to ensure that you finish these two sections in an hour. Not more than 60
minutes. You should at least have 20 minutes for Maths.
Maths is mark-fetching. That could be a game-changer. People appearing CLAT traditionally
have been Maths-phobic. This is where you can beat them.
This is a strategy, as a clarification, we followed when we had appeared our respective CLATs.
We have come across people who solve the paper as per their own comfort. You, obviously, have
the freedom to solve it in a manner you are most efficient with.
Best of Luck for all the mocks that you are appearing now and CLAT.
Anonymous
I write this article for all those getting set to give the CLAT, a test that would define their entire
lives. I write at a time of great tension and excitement for all concerned. You are getting ready to
give your entrance exams, the fourth years in law schools all over the country are getting ready
to give interviews and get jobs and everyone else is interning hoping to learn something or to get
a job.

Law College isnt like any other educational institution. We do things very differently as
compared to most colleges. Let me explain this, Law school is not a place where you learn
something new or something you have never known before. You learn something that has
always been there and will always be there. You learn the true basis of human society, the true
rationale behind everything we do. You learn the law, you learn those basic principles that have
defined human civilization ever since its inception. You learn about the Constitution and why its
the greatest document still being written and why it will forever hold that status. You learn to
truly respect this country for the freedom it gives you, that power to do what you want, how you
want and to truly embrace your individuality, to truly reach your potential as a human being.
There is a certain nobility in this profession, in the study of law, because it finally puts into
words morality, justice and equality terms that you use without actually realizing the true depth
of their meaning.
The study of law provides you with the necessary skill-set to understand this depth for yourself
and to understand the human society in all its parts and forms and in that sense you learn
something truly wonderful, something that has always been there in the fabric of society but
never really apparent or obvious.
These are just some qualities of law-school that set it apart from any other institution and sets the
study of law apart from any other profession.

Apart from its ideological distinction, practically also, law school life is distinctive. Nowhere
else will you see such a diverse range of students, nowhere else will you find such a wide
collection of extra-curricular and co-curricular activities to participate in moots, debates,
publications, presentations, credit courses, special guest lectures, parties, girls/boys and, of
course, the omnipresent term- GPA.
Most of you will manage, some will even enjoy this pressure and this choice of multifarious
activities, some will simply exist through it and some will, unfortunately, fall away. Its a pattern
that happens every year with every batch. Its as predictable as the sun rising tomorrow. But
there are some, and it is to those visionaries that this article is dedicated. These few, and I cannot
overstate how few, will forge their own way away from Amarchands and Luthras (google if you
do not know what these are), the most characteristic of all national law school hopes, and will

endeavor to become their own person, their own master, their own employer. It is these few
people who change the legal industry every year. These people are those litigators and those
startup entrepreneurs. Only they understand the true meaning of independence, the true force
behind doing your own thing and being your own master. They will never allow themselves to
sacrifice their independence, their freedom on the altar of financial stability and this is the ideal
that all of you should aim for.
In pursuance of this aim, I propose that you relax, weigh your options and never surrender
yourself to the will of others. It is not necessary that you moot, it is not necessary that you debate
and it is not necessary that you publish or even that you get that perfect GPA. All that is
necessary is that you remain pro-active enough, motivated enough to attempt your hand at
everything and find your own way through to your own goals and not the ones that others set for
you.
The most important thing that you must remember is focus and motivation. You need to
understand what is best for you and not for your best friend. You need to know what motivates
you, what excites, that one thing or that one activity that gives you such extreme pleasure that
you lose yourself in it. Find what that is, and youre set. However, you will need to obviously put
yourself out there to find out what your thing is, so try everything, experience it all. Nothing is
above you and nothing below. So, to all of you future law students, I say good luck and that I
envy you for having so much time to decide your future, to have so many endless possibilities, so
many avenues. I hope your enjoy your ride as I have enjoyed mine till date and that you realize
that fun is in doing what you love.
So go ahead, get excited, study your hardest for this extremely easy test. An awesome world
awaits you at the end of this struggle, truly a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

This article attempts to help you find a sustainable approach that could help you clear the CLAT
and get into the law school of your choice.

The first thing you need to know about CLAT is that there is no right way to prepare for it.
Different people could have uniquely different methods, suiting them according to their unique
strengths and weaknesses.
Irrespective of which approach you might want to take, there are a few points of commonality
which you might do well to take note of.
1) Get your basics clear.
Probably the most important part of your CLAT preparation is Getting your fundamentals cleared
since this is an exam where your understanding of the subject rather than your rote memory is
important. Here are a few pointers on how to understand each of the subjects better.
a) English:

Increase your reading speed: This is relevant not only to the English section but the
whole of the paper. Since CLAT is a speed exam, increasing your reading speed is of vital
importance. One way to do this, apart from reading the Newspaper daily which is helpful for
your Current Affairs section as well, is developing a reading habit by reading as many
books as you lay your hands on.

Know your grammar: Grammar is something which we take for granted, and tend not to
focus our attention on. But this is the area where we often lose marks. One of the prime
reasons why such a situation crops up is that since there is a difference between spoken and
written English which we, consciously, dont take into consideration, we often imagine
sentences in the form in which they are spoken whereas in reality they may be different in
their written form.

Read this: http://www.lawctopus.com/clatapult/clat-english-preparation/

b) Logical Reasoning

Understand the subjectivity of critical reasoning, arguably the most difficult part of the
exam. A lot of times, the answer you think is right may be wrong, a common phenomenon in
this section. In these situations, it is best to swallow your pride and take it in your stride, even
if you feel the answer given is not right. Just read the sentences carefully and give yourself

some time to think before coming up with a solution. Practice as many questions and as
different kinds of questions as you can. That is the key, again.

To make way for the subjectivity of critical reasoning, make sure that the other parts of
logical reasoning are clear to you. These could include puzzles, directions, number series
among others. These are areas where you can easily score marks, so being good in these areas
can only be to your benefit.

c) Legal Reasoning

The most important aspect of this part is to answer the question strictly according to the
principle. The legal principle presented at times is weird. And aspirants make the mistake of
choosing the answers that sound the most logical and not the ones which conform with the
principles. Never do this! As moronic as the principle may sound, stick to it and answer the
questions accordingly.

d) Mathematics

Elementary and very simple. If you are very good and/or have scored well in your class
tenth, then the ride should not be very problematic for you. But if you are bad at it, then the
only way to improve at it is to practice , practice and practice. In hindsight practice is the
only practical option.

e) Gk/Current Affairs

Unpredictable, but achievable. 50 marks. You need to be up-to-date with both Current
Affairs and Static GK, static GK because of the trend. Static GK carried 37 and 27 marks in
CLAT14 and 13 respectively. It is not very difficult though. It requires dedication. And
when you have plunged into the competition already, you must be ready to undertake the task
of being dedicated and consistent. For Current Affairs, get hold of a good newspaper. We,
here in CLATapult, advise our students to go for The Hindu, which is sans any advertisements
and biased news coverage. On top of that, its language will help you in improving your
vocabulary and reading speed. Read it everyday. And subscribe Competition in Focus. These
two, when combined together, will definitely suffice to crack the Current Affairs Section.

For Static GK, go for Pearsons General Knowledge.

2) Time your practice sessions and take as many mock- tests as possible.

As you already know, time is of vital importance in this exam. You may choose not to practice
every day but whenever you do be sure to time it. Mock tests are a good way to improve your
time and efficiency. You can tailor your time and try different combinations reserving time slots
for each section as you see fit. Mock tests also tell you where you stand in direct competition
with others .It is always good to be among the top students in your respective institute but that
does not imply that you will top in the main exam too .What is important that you find a model,
making best use of your strongest areas in accordance with the time available and try to improve
yourself with every new mock that you take up.

3) Get a good mentor or, at the very least, appropriate study material.
Even though there is only a limited amount a mentor can teach you, her guidance and experience
are useful assets to facilitate your preparation . A good mentor can not only solve your many
doubts, but give you a lot of tips on how best to approach the examination, specifically focusing
on utilizing time effectively, strengthening the weaker areas and most importantly, giving the
much-needed motivation which will help you in embarking in this journey, specifically in the
stressful last few days towards the exam.
Aside from a good mentor , proper study material is key. Ideally this should include practice
books and sample questions for each subject.
4) Think on your toes.
Books, mentors, mock tests can only help you prepare to a certain extent. Ultimately it all
depends on what you do on that day .So you need to be 100 % ready to prepare for any
eventuality. Hannibal Barca once said , I will find a way, or make one. He subsequently did
just that, found a way by crossing the Alps and invaded the mighty Roman empire. Likewise it is
important to not get fazed by unexpected questions (as is the case, generally) and always find a
way around them .
Remember to always trust your instincts. There will be a lot of questions where you will be torn
between two options, remember not to over-think in such situations, just tick the one that strikes
you first. Last but not the least, luck plays a very important role , so carrying your laughing

Buddhas, lockets, horoscopes is a good idea, if at all the authorities allow it inside. If not, well
just hope lady luck stays by your side because you will need it.

By Anubhab Dasgupta
At the very outset, I must mention that I got into law school by pure accident, stumbled
through law school with plenty more accidents, and have recently ended up with a job at a very
prestigious law firm by a happier accident.
Law school was never Plan A as far as I was concerned, but then again, at that juncture of my
life (circa 2007-08, when I was in 11th standard), it cannot be said that I did have a Plan A,
because unlike most of my classmates who had ambitions of being doctors, engineers and
chartered accountants, I was quite content concentrating on my pre-board and board
examinations, without really considering what entrance examinations I would have to take to get
into a professional college.
Furthermore, my ambitions were swayed by the fact that I was the lead vocalist in my school
band which was arguably the best in Kolkata at the time, and at that point, what I really wanted
was to adopt music as a career.
However, things did not turn out the way I wanted them to initially. There were tiffs at home
surrounding my choice of career, and ultimately, I learned to see things from my parents point of
view, and decided to adopt a career which would be more secure (read, mainstream).
My parents wanted me to pursue medicine, and although I did subscribe to their point of view to
a certain extent, I felt it would be too much trouble for me to get into (well, I did not really want
to study for more than 5 years!), even though biology was always one of my stronger subjects.
In the summer of 2008 however, a good friend of mine a senior from my school cracked a
top-200 rank in this entrance exam called CLAT, which, obviously, none of us had heard of
before, and joined NLU Jodhpur. After a few conversations with him, I figured out that this was a
career in which I could thrive, given the fact that both of us had similar skill sets.

This was a turning point in my life, because it was then that Plan B developed for me and
began to look like a better option than Plan A.
Most law school aspirants have been told to avoid taking up science in their +2, because of
the heavy workload. I can furnish firsthand advice on the matter, because the only time I really
studied for CLAT was after my boards got over. I joined the crash course offered by LST in April
2009, which helped me fathom how I needed to prepare for CLAT.
In our year, two books which really helped were the Full Question Bank and Legal Knowledge
both published by Universal (of course, those are not the actual names of the books I cant
seem to remember what they are).
One of my greatest strengths vis--vis the CLAT was my proficiency in English, as that was one
subject in which I had always excelled, even in school. What perhaps helped me the most in this
regard experiential learning all my life, Ive tried to converse with people in English, as far as
possible.
Some people find it quite strange in fact, that being hardcore Bengalis, my conversations with
my own brother, even at home, are always in English! In addition to this, all the literature I have
ever read has been in English which really helped my understanding of how the language
works.
My opinion on this issue however, is that English is one aspect of CLAT which is difficult, if
not impossible, to master just for the purpose of succeeding in CLAT in my experience, I have
felt it requires deeper roots. The other great advantage I had with respect to the entrance
examination was the speed at which I read and absorb information. This of course gave me a
tremendous edge as far as areas like reading and comprehension, and logical reasoning were
concerned. I would also add that this skill has helped me throughout law school it is an asset
which makes life in law school a lot easier.
I achieved an All-India rank of 67 in CLAT and got into WBNUJS Kolkata, which, in
hindsight, could have turned out to be a huge mistake, as I was eligible for NLSIU Bangalore as
well as NALSAR Hyderabad (however, it seems now that things have turned out quite well, and
I do not have any regrets). I would advise all law school aspirants to put in NLSIU Bangalore as
your first preference, NALSAR as your second, and NUJS as your third, regardless of where
your native place is!

Life in law school has had its ups and downs. If youre not one of the people involved in
everything at all times, law school tends to be a very depressing experience. What really helped
me was identifying what I was good at, and concentrating on that, instead of trying my hand at
everything.
Therefore, if you dont feel like participating in moot courts, dont give in to peer pressure
and sign up for it.If you dont want to join any committees or societies, dont do so trust me,
if what youre looking for is a job at a transactional law firm, being a member of the Society of
Corporate Banking & Finance (purely fictitious) hardly does anything more than sit tight on your
CV, and you can be sure no one will question you on what work you did for your Society in your
interview.
What does help more than anything else, at least as far as bagging jobs in the much-soughtafter and high-paying corporate law firms, are your grades, and your internships.
Your CGPA is pretty much the only thing which helps you get shortlisted for those prestigious
day-zero interviews, and once you are sitting before the interviewer, in 9 cases out of 10,
questions shall be directed to you from the areas of law you have worked on at your internships.
In such a scenario, your knowledge and understanding of what you have worked on is the only
thing that you must rely on.
Finally, there is some advice which I feel I must give law school aspirants with regard to life
in a law school. There are some fundamentals you must remember, preferably at all times.

First, do not be intimidated by your surroundings. I remember how intimidated I was by

some of my classmates in first year, most of whom seemed far more intelligent and
accomplished than me.
By third year, I had realized that sometimes what sounded intelligent and strongly argumentative,
hardly meant anything. If one pays close attention and deconstructs the sentences, many such
opinions and arguments turn out to be circular, and entirely meaningless.
In other words, sometimes in law school, people speak just because they love hearing themselves
speak, and you must never be intimidated by such people. Believe in yourself at all times.

Second, keep your friends close. It is difficult to make friends with everyone in your batch. In
my experience, it was easy enough to make friends with everyone, but it was far more difficult to
maintain those friendships. In the end, what most people rely on, is a strong, core group of
friends, who they can genuinely count on, and I was extremely fortunate to have found such
friends, without whom my survival in law school would have been nigh impossible.
My friends have given me support when I have needed it the most, and today, they are the first
ones I think of when I want to celebrate a success. From a more pragmatic point of view, it
makes sense to divide your courses into small fractions and assign persons to deal with each
portion of the syllabus and make notes or summaries. Working alone in law school is probably
one of the worst possible mistakes one can make.
Third, dont work hard, work smart. Although, if you can do both I envy you, carry on. And
if you are inherently a hard worker, you will not know the difference between the two. However,
in my experience, Ive found that working smart, rather than working hard, helps one fully
absorb the experience that law school is, and it can be quite beautiful at times.
Finally, always ask yourself why you are in law school in the first place. The answer need not
always be concrete. Even if you have not figured out whether you want to litigate, or teach, or
work in a law firm, ask yourself why you opted for law in the first place. It could be for
something as shallow as money, and there is nothing wrong with that! Based on what you want,
plot a road map for yourself and work towards realizing your ultimate goal.
I shall finish off with a message which does not pertain only to CLAT, or law school, but life in
general always believe in yourself. No matter what has gone wrong in life, never stop believing.
No matter what obstacles you face, always remember, everything is a learning experience. Go
ahead, optimize your life.

Anubhab Dasgupta is a 5th year law student at NUJS, Kolkata

My tryst with the law and CLAT was neither thought out nor planned.

In fact, I was intent on studying journalism at a reputed institution abroad but my fathers
apprehensions regarding me being sent abroad at a rather young age resulted in me discovering
law.
At the time, my best friend was preparing diligently to appear for CLAT and, in the absence of a
clear plan of action, I started doing the same.
As each moment passed, law and its basic components such as criminal law, tort law and logic
appealed to me more and more and my interest in law kept on growing.
As the decision to appear for CLAT was taken at the fag-end of class 12, I joined as a crash
course student at a leading coaching institute in my hometown and effectively had just forty days
to prepare for it.
Expectations from law school
As I do not belong to a family of lawyers, my ideas and perception about law school and
expectations from the same were restricted.
When I entered law school, my only expectation was to earn myself a decent corporate job at the
completion of my degree and, like most others; I strolled into law school with this idea.
At the same time, the idea that I would at least complete a masters degree had been clearly
instilled in me by my parents and an LLM degree always featured in my scheme of things.
However, shortly after, I was exposed to a diverse range of subjects that are taught at law school
and in the course of time, I began to recognize that my interests lay on planes that were nowhere
close to the commercial and corporate sector. I realized my interests in the fields of international
humanitarian law and international criminal law.
A painful yet prestigious internship at a reputed law firm in my second year confirmed to me that
I was not made for the rather drab field of Corporate Law.

Impressions

Once I came to law school, I realized that CLAT was a rather overrated and a small battle as
compared to sticking it out at law school. Here one was competing against equally smart and
talented people who had cleared that dreaded exam. This was the real test.
Coming to law school taught me a lot of things that a regular college degree could, perhaps,
never have. I discovered a rather arduous and strict work ethic which shall remain with me
forever and I will remain eternally grateful to my law school education for it.
In addition to this, an analytical bent of mind together with the ability to question each given
situation and an independent thought process make me thank the entire law school experience.
In addition to this, the friendships that I formed along the way, though few, but extremely

worthwhile, are a gift that law school gave me!

Although law school can prove to be a little more than you can chew specially in initial years
when one is not sure about ones interests and inclinations, it definitely imbibes in you the skill
to multitask and handle work pressure which inevitably stands you in good stead under any
circumstance.
Also, it is almost a given rule that you leave law school a better writer and researcher than when
you came in and you can thank your countless projects and paper submissions which you are
bound to most abhor during these years for the same!
Further, the magnitude of things you learn and the amount you mature once you step out of the
protective confines of your hometown, school friends and familiar surroundings can never be
emphasized to its fullest.
Moreover, the exposure that one gets owing to various internship opportunities that are an
inextricable part of the law school package adds not only to ones CV but also to ones
experiences as well as confidence as internships for a non resident of Delhi/Mumbai/Bangalore
generally involve travelling to different placesover the holidays.

Although I have to admit that law school is not milk and roses always and has its fair shares of
lows which manifest themselves in the form of unhealthily competitive people or people who
will want to take advantage of your faith and friendship with them.
Sometimes you may be left doubting yourself and your ability as a law student because you
know there are people who appear to be much smarter or better connected or better mooters than
you are.
But the underlying magic formula for such rainy days is to have unwavering faith in yourself and
not to be too hard on yourself for there are only so many things that you can be good at.
The best thing to do to yourself in a law school is to identify that and do those things and trust
your intuition to guide you in that direction. Trust me, you do not have to kill yourself over a
corporate job where each minute seems like an hour just because everybody in your batch is
doing so. You are your only judge and your only competition the earlier you learn these
lessons, the happier you will be!
The best thing that I find about this profession is that it is highly compatible with all branches of
study everyone from a hospital to a media house needs a lawyer and if a desk job is not your
thing, then abundant opportunities await you in litigation, research, politics, social work, think
tanks and policy groups and these are only a few avenues that I have enlisted.
(See HERE for more info on career options in law).
If I were to sum up the survival strategy in a law school (if such a thing can be assumed to exist),
it would be best reflected in Charles Bukowskis saying : Find what you love and let it kill
you.

After spending a year at NUJS, I realize how life has changed considerably for me.
I am glad to have made it to one of the top tier National Law Schools in the country. While
making it to NUJS was a challenging mission, surviving a year at NUJS seemed quite another.

Let me take you back to the hectic days of CLAT preparation, examination and the results and
finally to one year of my law school life.
About 6 months before CLAT, just like every other 12th grader, I was a lot worried about
my Board examswith every passing day just getting worse.
My mentor, Mrs. Hema Raman kept reminding me of the fact that I should not lose my focus on
CLAT even as I prepared for the Board exams.
I think it was about that time that I realized what it means to gain a place within the top 250
candidates of some 25000 odd students taking up this extremely competitive exam.
But I ensured that I did not stop pursuing some of my passions. One of them being
watching and following cricket. Would you believe it if I said one of the legends of the game
motivated me to do well in CLAT?
I was inspired by what Ajinkya Rahane had to say about Rahul Dravid after he shared the
dressing room with the legend during the India tour of England. Rahane said Rahul Dravid
taught him and the other youngsters such as Abhinav Mukund to price their wicket as
invaluable.
I knew I had to regard every single question in CLAT as invaluable for me to make it to that
top 1% of all CLAT takers. My level of preparation for CLAT increased manifold after my Board
exams.
I took a number of online tests too and before CLAT, I ensured I solved as many as 50 tests. As I
was gearing up for the CLAT day, my mental framework was very positive and self-belief is
what kept me in good stead.

On the D-day, I tried really hard to keep calm and not panic before and during the exam. I
think I did quite well to banish any thoughts of fear that would have meandering in my mind.
When I came out of the exam hall, I had a feeling that I had done better than what I had
expected.

I was no different than any other fellow CLAT aspirant and I engaged in a lot of online
discussions. According to my estimates, I was expecting a score of 142-147.
A couple of days after CLAT, I left on a vacation with family to relax. Forget all about what
you have done in examinations and let yourself breathe in peace Personally, I think its the ideal
thing to do after taking up a stressful and a grueling test. While on vacation in Goa, I got a call
from Symbiosis Pune for the GD/PI. I was happy to have qualified for that as I had a decent fallback option.
If I had to choose one decisive day in my life so far, I would have no second thoughts on saying
that it was May 28, 2012. And its significant for more than one reason. It was the day the CBSE
Class 12 and CLAT results were declared.
I think I woke up to the news of my Class 12 results. I had secured a decent score in every
subject but Mathematics. I knew that 92.4% would be good enough for securing admission into a
reputed college in Chennai for B. Com.
Parents and relatives were clearly unimpressed with my Math scores but I decided not to bother
about it and move on. At around 11 am, I was frantically trying to get access to the CLAT results
on the CLAT website.
Tell you what, at that moment, I came to realize that booking a ticket via IRCTC is definitely not
the toughest thing to do online.
Around noontime, I got to know that my AIR was 179 with a score of 139/200. I think I was
more relieved than happy to know I would make it to one of the top tier National Law Schools in
India.
Then came the big blow when the college allotment list was put up and I was allotted HNLU,
Raipur. I knew there was something wrong in the first list and thankfully, the error was rectified
in a couple of days, which let me know that I had been allotted NUJS, Kolkata.
Now is the time to press the fast forward button, and poof, there I was in NUJS, attending
my first day at law school. The professors introduced themselves and gave us the basic
instructions and guidelines to be followed.

I was as happy as surprised to know that there was no dress code in place. It was about time that
we interacted with our seniors. It was quite a fun thing to go about from room to room and make
yourself known to them.
Right from day one, I believed seniors would be the most helpful people around in college
throughout our 5 years. And until today, seniors have proven it to be true and I am confident that
this is how it will be for the rest of my time in NUJS. I was also lucky to have represented NUJS
in a couple of inter-college events with the help of the seniors.
The first one being the Cultural Fest NH65, hosted by NLU-Jodhpur and the second one was the
Quadrangular Cricket Series hosted by NLSIU, Bangalore.
In the one year, the people around me have taught me a number of life lessons. And the most
important lesson was broadening of the narrow mind I had.
Only after a couple of months into NUJS, I became conscious of the fact that having a
narrow mind would never help any cause and I was prepared to face and cope up with realities
of the world having been put in to a completely different kind of lifestyle from what I lead back
home in Chennai.
Stepping into college would ideally mean youre stepping into the real world. You meet
different kinds of people. You have a good day and then a not so good one. And youll realize
very quickly how much you miss home, where theres always mom, dad or your siblings to cheer
you up. And that is precisely why you should not be shut in a cocoon.
Make friends, not only from your own batch. Have that one friend with whom you can
confide everything. Life at law school is a dream come true for each one of us. We choose how
to live the dream. It is about how well you utilize the freedom you get in college, away from
your family.
You party hard, but not before (or after) if you can make sure you have done the requisite
readings for the forthcoming classes. And I would not be lying if I said that it is really difficult to
strike that balance between having fun with friends and preparing systematically for the exams,
given the freedom.
To all CLAT-aspirants awaiting the CLAT results, good luck.

I am Devaang. That is all, and I write this realizing I am probably the worst person to be giving
advice to anyone.
If there is a God, He is probably laughing his ass off while I write this, in the knowledge that
circumstances change everything, and one drunken outward shift of the angle you see your
object from can change the way you see life, and everything about it.
And perspective is about all I have to offer from where Im at, really.
I got 61.5% in my boards, and like with all below average students, I remember my marks and
the circumstances around which I got it more accurately than most toppers that sighed with relief
at their 95s ever will.
I did a summer crash course for the law exam, most of which I ended up bunking. Not trying to
be cool (I am) but the main reason was that the one mock CLAT exam I had answered saw me
top amongst those who bothered to write that particular mock, and I wanted to sign off on a high.
Topping a rudimentary mock exam seemed good enough for me at the time, and was enough to
give me a headrush, so I imagine you best keep that in mind throughout, in case I ever come
across as pseudo-intellectual (I am). That was the first feeling that rushed back to me when I
found out I had scored 143, to get me into NUJS.
Just like topping the mock, the rush of blood to the head and to the outermost layers of the skin
lasted for the same few seconds. The only difference the hangover still lasts to this day.
I never studied really, just loved tripping on the stupidity of the current affairs of the world, and
the expertise of the leaders in having fun playing with it all. That was the only part, I realized,
that could be studied. The rest was all aptitude, which to me means the ability to extract the fun
out of the loathsome.
Halfway through law school, I realize this is the most important factor there is. Everything is
going to bore you eventually, I see the most optimistic of my friends being dissatisfied with Best
Speaker and Best Adjudicator prizes because of their inability to have fun while they were at it.

The only successful trick I can offer, then, to any aspirant would be to have as much fun as
possible in those two hours. Dont listen to those that tell you this is life-changing, you already
know and loathe all of that. Those two hours require you to chill in Gods shoes, look around and
trip on all those poor souls tearing out scraps of their heart in the knowledge that they are 120,
119, 118, tick tock minutes from disappointing all those praying for his/her success.
Youll soon see the twisted fun side to it, and eventually look down at your paper and realize alls
never lost, not even with you, and hopefully win yourself 5 (or more) years of time. That is the
greatest gift of a fun experiment I imagine Ill ever get, and if you ever try it proceed with no
caution, speedbreakers are an illusion.

Devaang Agarwalla is a student at NUJS, Kolkata. If he is God, he is Adonis.

Everyone would like to live in a perfect world. Perfect world for me in CLAT will be where
the law of averages works.
What is the law of averages? Its this: if I toss a coin 10 times; heads should turn up 5 times and
so should tails. Its a very fair law. As fair as a coin toss.
Consider this for CLAT now:
Out of 200, I answer 120 questions confidently. Am confused about 40. I dont have a clue about
the next 40.
The confused 40 mean questions where I can eliminate at least 1-2 options out of the 4
available (a, b, c and d). Am still confused about the remaining 2-3 options.
The no-clue 40 mean question where I cant eliminate any of the options. I have no clue; I cant
even eliminate any of the options.

So there are 40 no-clue questions. I mark all of them C. Because C stands for cool.
Ideally, in a perfect world, out of 40, there should be 10 questions with the answer option C.
(10 questions should have A as the correct option, 10-B and 10-D). Thats what a perfect
question paper is.
So by answering 40 no-clue questions and getting 10 answers right, I secure 10 marks.
For the 30 wrong answers I loose 7.5 marks. (-.25 for each wrong answer).
I still gain 2.5 marks! (Did I do my maths right?)
In a non-perfect world, even if I can cancel-out one option, I will DEFINITELY mark that and
not worry about the negative marking.

So it makes sense to answer all the questions. Including the no-clue questions. Ignore the
negative marking!
This is my personal take. Whats yours?

Youll get more of such strategy based inputs on enrolling for any of our courses.
PS- Not every strategy needs to be followed. Depends on what you find true and right.

An exam like the CLAT is not a test of knowledge. Yes, I know what youre thinking- theres this
sea of knowledge called Current Affairs. Apart from that, it is a test primarily of aptitude.

It is to test how well you manage under pressure, against a racing clock, and with expectations
weighing heavily on your shoulders. Just writing it makes me feel tired and drained, but you
cant afford to do that if youre preparing for the Godfather of law entrance exams.
The subjects will look very easy individually- doing CLAT math or logic for half an hour is a
piece of cake. The difficulty arises when you have to do CLAT math, logic, legal, English and
Current Affairs in two hours. Head spinning? Yeah, I know.
Your biggest enemy here is time management. For example, I spent close to 20 minutes on my
math section and 15 minutes on English, and still finished the paper 10 minutes early!
Whereas I was told time and again NOT to spend more than 12 minutes on maths. My point is,
whatever be your preparation strategy, you need to come to the exam room prepared for
anything. Thats where mock tests come in.
When I say mock tests, I dont mean a test in the comfort of your AC room, with a cup of Red
Bull to keep you awake and a Kit- Kat break every half an hour. Thats as good as not doing a
mock test at all.
While doing a test, try and create an exact simulation of the atmosphere at your real CLAT
exam. So no drinks, no AC and definitely no break between sections.
More important than the actual mock test itself is the review that follows. This isnt a school
exam, which can be forgotten about once it is written. There are people who have done hardly
any tests, but have done exceptionally well on D-Day, simply because their review of the tests
were regular.
Finding out your mistakes is a vital part of the test taking strategy. Without knowing where you
went wrong, you will not be able to improve. When I was preparing for CLAT, I used to feel
downright lazy to look at the same tests again, especially if I didnt do well in them.
But dont worry; reviewing the tests will pay off in the long run. So go through your test once
again and see where youve gone wrong- you can then focus more on that particular area.

Even when it comes to tests, different tactics work for different people. Some people dont need
to do tests by the dozens, others do. I, for one, felt more confident only when I had done a large
number of tests, and so I followed that method. So figure out what works for you and follow that.
The number of tests you take doesnt really matter, what matters is that you take them the right
way. Most importantly, dont underestimate the power of mock tests- they are a huge confidence
booster and help you substantially in terms of telling you how good/bad you are in certain areas.
Preparation for CLAT involves a multi pronged strategy. Its not a one-step process; some
toil and labour is required.
Mock tests are an intrinsic part of the strategy, so make sure you take atleast a few before May
2013. Do this, and youre already halfway there to achieving your law school dreams.

Here is a summary:
1. Take mock tests to chalk-out a bit of time plan for CLAT (where do you go slow, where can
you go fast etc)
2. Whenever you take a mock test, recreate the D-day scenario (get an OMR sheet)
3. Review and assess your performance with sincerity

CLAT aspirants join the best of coaching institutions. They buy the best of books. They take the
best of guidance from the best of law students.
But there are a few things, so simple and so basic that no one tells you about them. We will.
Now!
1. A blunt pencil

Forget the advice Sharpen your pencils that your mom repeated so many times when you were
a school kid. In CLAT (common law admission test) you have to shade the ovals and the
circles. A blunt pencil does the faster and easier.
Make sure your pencil is blunt. Make sure you have at least three blunt pencils. Dark pencils. Oh
and do remember to take erasers too.
2. A cold water bottle
It is May and it is India. It is hot and it is humid. The CLAT examination hall will most probably
not be air conditioned. Wring a 2 hour exam in a cramped hall will be exhausting and
uncomfortable.
Carry a cold water bottle. Preferably in a thermos. Drink water during those 2 hours. It makes for
a nice break.
3. A wrist watch
The CLAT exmination hall will have a big wall clock. But you dont have to crane your neck and
look at it all the time. You dont have to keep a tab on how many minutes its fast or late.
Buy a wrist watch. Save time. And do a favour to the muscles of your neck.
4. A fruit just before
CLAT will probably start at 10 am or 2 pm. If you had your breakfast or lunch (a light one of
course) at 8 am/12 pm, you should have a small banana or some other fruit at around 9 am or 1
pm.
Dont go empty stomach into CLAT. You do need that extra energy to crack this exam. A banana
is my favorite fruit to undo the hunger.
Also, since you cant afford to over-eat, a banana again is your best bet.
5. The breath

Close your eyes. Breathe in (deep and slow). Stop. Breathe out (deep and slow). It relaxes you
well. Try it.
Relaxing is important in the CLAT exam. Try this (three breaths are good enough) every 30
minutes for a fresher, faster brain and a fresh, faster body!

A toppers advice on how to prepare for CLAT

By Abhiroop De
All of you, who are reading this article with the idea of learning how to crack CLAT 2013,
would be terribly disappointed. CLAT and all the preparations relating to it, is a place where
learning takes a backseat and applying takes the lead.
That is what we all are striving to do, to help you to apply all the knowledge you yourself have.
The learning part should have been completed by now, and you should already possess that latent
storehouse of knowledge. Now, this is something which no one can teach you. The knowledge
you

have,

must

come

from

your

own.

It depends on many things- your knack to know more, the atmosphere you have at home and
school, the books you read, the movies you watch, the stuff that you browse on the net etc. etc.
What I, or to that matter, anyone can help you with, is the tiny tricks of how to exploit that
knowledge house of yours.

After boards

As far as my CLAT preparations were concerned, I must say, I was in a much disadvantageous
position than any of you are now. All of you, I hope have made law your career choice, and
CLAT your aim. But for me, at this time last year, I didnt even know what CLAT was all about.
It was after my board examinations, in that one month break I had, that I decided to take CLAT
seriously. SO, I had to cramp all my experimentations, permutations, combinations everything
into this time of about 20 odd days.
So, I had to take recourse to a lot of tricks and so called smart studying in order to cover
everything. Necessity, it is said, is the mother of invention. These small tricks, some of which I
collected from my teachers, some from other CLAT aspirants and situations necessitated me to
invent and improvise some.
Here I will try and share with you some of them. Needless to say, they may be highly subjective.
But they have worked wonderfully for me, and as time is on your side, I would suggest you to try
them.

A personal Brahmastra
Well, to start with, as I always say, the whole edifice of CLAT stands upon two pillars- strategy
and practice. If you are weak in one, the other will is bound to collapse along with all your
hopes.
Therefore, practice as many papers as you can lay your hands upon. Then, analyse and evaluate
your performance. Eventually, based on these evaluations, formulate your strategy, which will be
your personal Brahmashtra to crack CLAT.
The practices are where you formulate your strategy, mocks are where you test it, and CLAT will
be where you will apply it. Follow this, and half your job is done!
Now let us discuss two subjects which have traditionally managed to give students the creeps.
Yes I am talking about Mathematics, and General Knowledge.

As far as Maths is concerned, it was one of the reasons I ran away from science (and if you
happen to be a Bengali, you would understand how difficult it is to run away from Science, once
you have swallowed the bait of taking it for your +2).
I do not know why, but Mathematics is something which tends to leave all of us shaking, but it
has 20 marks allotted in CLAT, and we cannot leave it to the hands of the gods.
The trick (and this is only for those Math phobics like me) is to concentrate on the sections in
Maths which really are easy, and trust me, there indeed are sections where we can easily score
marks. Now it will depend on you as to what you find easy.
Personally, I found Ratio and Profit/Loss quite easy, so I capitalized on them. You may find
Mensuration more to your liking, or for that matter, anything. My point is, that the general
attitude towards the Math section is either we should get a 20/20 or we leave it out altogether.
That shouldnt be the approach.
Even if we can attempt 15 out of 20 questions, and if we can manage even 10 correct answers out
of those 15, you will know that you have done a great job, considering that you were
contemplating leaving it altogether.
Then there are ofcourse those little tricks in solving math problems, which I believe you are
already aware of.

Now for GK, there is much more at stake, and there is no way we can ignore it. This is one
section which can effectively make or break your chances in CLAT.
Even if you read all your newspapers, and listen to all your news and mug up all the Pratiyogita
Darpans you can lay your hands upon, you will invariably find about 50% of the questions in
CLAT which you will have never heard of.
So what to do in these cases? Lick your fingers and choose any option? Of course not. This is
where you have to use certain intuition based tricks, which though not cent percent accurate, may
pull of the day for you.

For example, if you are dealing with Hydel projects (For some blessed reason that seems to be a
favourite of the question makers), it invariably turns out to be one of the hill states, for obvious
reasons (Uttarakhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim etc.).
And one sure way to find the state of any project or a scheme is to study the name. A project
named after any of the Nehrus or the Gandhis invariably has to be from one of the Congress
states. The BJP states tend to prefer Shivaji,Savarkar and Shyama Prasad more.
Please do not go and mark Gujarat, for a certain Rajiv Gandhi Rojgar Yojna. That simply cant
be.

Knowledge Trains
Another interesting way, and by far the most effective way to go about researching your GK stuff
is to go by KNOWLEDGE TRAINS. You will find this interesting and highly effective, not
only for your CLAT but also for your quizzing. A very typical example of a static GK train could
be:THE BEATLES MARK CHAPMAN J.D. SALINGER HINDUISM RAMAKRISHNA
MISSION MINORITY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION CRISIS, INDIA.
Well, what connects all these seemingly disconnected names? Well let me leave you to find this
out.
As you research your way up, you will realise that by the time you have reached the end of the
train, you have traversed through time and place, from the early 60s to the late 2000s, from
Liverpool, England, to the courtrooms of the Bihar High Court.
You have peeped into the darkest secrets of celebrities, and dug out lesser known trinkets of facts
about great men and organizations. Similarly, you can start from anywhere and you will be
astonished to see where it will end up taking you.

To sum it up, let me request you to do all this not because you have to do it for your CLAT,
but rather because you love to do it. Dont make CLAT your only aim.
After everything you do, at the end of this race, these months of preparations should leave you
not only with the University of your choice, but also a much more knowledgable and rational
person. Here is wishing you all the best for the journey ahead.
Tout le meilleure!!

Abhiroop De is a 1st year student at NUJS, Kolkata.

Six months to go, give or take a few days and the final hurdle for aspiring law students will be
here. Yes its the main event of the law entrance tests the CLAT.
Fourteen National Law Schools will take in students based on their score in a 2 hour MCQ
based paper that has 5 sections. About a 1000 seats are up for grabs Seems fairly simple? Right ?
An estimated 30,000 aspirants are expected to be take the CLAT in 2013. Not so cut & dried
anymore. Is it?
How do you approach it? Do you cower behind the numbers? Go all out and prepare all day
forgetting worldly comforts such as the cellphone, hanging out, friends or even a life? No? Then
read on.
Its a mad ride, yes. Mugging up names of anyone making headlines octagenarians,
bureaucrats , murderers turned politicians isnt fun! Maths? Im an aspiring lawyer and Ill be
able to count my cash thank you very much! So why maths? But the maths stays, so does the
GK and your views dont count so save them!
The only thing you need to deliberate on is how to go about dealing with whatever bothers you
and ultimately cracking the CLAT. To figure out an approach, yours truly has some help for you.

GETTING STARTED
Before delving into the various sections, sort yourself out. From the day one prepare yourself
for consistent, focused and organised work. There is no such thing as a free lunch and CLAT isnt
handing it out to you either. Self service is your only option.
Clear your mind and your schedule because your next few months are going to be busy.
Before picking up a book, before setting a goal, get yourself going. Pluck up your confidence
and believe in yourself. You can get the job done. That has to be the foundation of your
preparation. Confidence. Remember that you compete with yourself and believe that come
CLAT you will be ready for whatever they throw at you and give it back in style.
The attack begins.

GETTING INTO THE GROOVE

With the motivation up and adrenaline pumping, get down to business. There needs to be a
method to the madness. Time to find yours. Set a goal. The best. The highest . thats what you

should aim for. Why look high when you can look higher? So much for the easy part. Now
comes the action.
ACTION
Bring in the focus and get down to it. The thing about CLAT is once youre over the initial
hump, preparing becomes fun. There isnt a need to rote learn (expect GK maybe, where you
simply have to know). Its not simply about getting the answer right .
Its about understanding how to get it right, even if you go wrong the first few times. Once you
get that understanding , getting marks will not be very hard.
Get a bit organized. Make a time table. It neednt be very rigid. But you need to do say X
hours a day or particular parts of other sections , whatever suits your way of working. If you feel
a particular section is not Up to the scratch , then you put even more effort into that section so
that youre not sunk by it come D- day.
Bring up your game, develop a strong foundation regarding concepts and then build on it to
mount an assault.
PUT THE TRAINING TO THE TEST
Once your concepts are clear, solve as many mocks and past years papers as possible. Right up
to the CLAT. Your performance in these will show you how far along you are and what you are
lacking in.
Try out all your theories/strategies/ideas here. The order of solving, the time for each section,
the level of accuracy all these have to be worked on in the mocks and past years papers.
Everything has to be perfected by the time CLAT comes calling.
THE LAST WORD
Just keep in mind that you are going to give a lot of time to this. Try to make it worthwhile.
Work hard. Be calm, be confident. A certain swagger along with hard work is most
welcome. But over confidence is not! Keep it real.

Assess yourself honestly keeping in mind your target and work accordingly.

Enjoy the

preparation, keep your aim in sight and go all out to get it . When the time for CLAT does come
dont cower in the shadow. Attack. Grab the bull by its horns and win the day!
Roughly speaking it goes like this:
Confidence aim- focus- effort- understanding- application attack!

Pravar Mishra is a 1st year law student. He teaches GK at CLATapults center in Kolkata. He
has also become the go to man to fetch hard hit cosco balls which fall in the cess pool at NUJS.

By Samyak Sibasish
I dropped a year to prepare for CLAT. And yes, this has been an eventful year for me. Unlike that
of many other exams, preparation for CLAT is something you can thoroughly enjoy.
First up, now, when you have a good few months on your hand to prepare for the D -Day, I
would just share my views on how to just effectively kick-off your preparations. How to go
about it, as the months progress, is another different matter altogether.

The very first thing you should do is to collect the past year question papers. Not only of
CLAT, but also the papers of NLSIU, NALSAR, NUJS, NLU-J and HNLU, when they used to
conduct their own entrances.
Just go through these once and try getting a hold of what an aptitude law entrance test really is.
You will be able to get a fairly good idea as to how the examination is gonna be. However, dont
start solving them systematically, unless its around mid-October or so (i.e now)- My own
personal opinion.

By that time, you would have taken a few mocks and you might be capable of handling these
papers with ease. And getting these papers is quite easy. Most of your seniors would be having
soft copy versions of these papers. Shoot them a mail or drop in their FB inbox. They will be
more than willing to help. There are also a host of websites which provide these papers.

Get yourself some books

To start it systematically, if you want to have a good command over the English Language and a
good vocabulary, for starters, Norman Lewis Word Power Made Easy is a must.
It is a thoroughly enjoyable book, if you read it in a light mood.For practice in questions on
English Grammar, a book by RS Agrawal would do. It has got a plethora of questions. I dont
remember the exact name of the book, however if you ask for English Entrance book by RS
Agrawal at the nearest bookshop, he will be willing to help you.

Logical Reasoning. THE Bible. MK Pandey. My dear ladies and gentlemen, if you want to
master the logical reasoning section, you cannot do without MK Pandey.
It is the best in business, to the extent that NLU-J had actually copied some questions from this
book in CLAT 2012. It has got a host of questions on analytical and critical reasoning, covering
most aspects of both the section, that really come in handy.
Practise them. It has also got a nice theoretical back-up to each and every chapter, that would
help you understand logic even better.

Legal Aptitude. It would have two sections. Legal Reasoning and Legal GK. Legal Reasoning
There are no good books available, as such. Practise legal reasoning from past year papers and
from mock tests and modules provided by a good coaching institute.

Online, on the ClatHacker and ClatGyan forums, you will get all sorts of questions on Legal
Reasoning for free. CLATapult, I hear, too will be coming up with some good legal reasoning
exercises here. These are apt platforms to discuss questions and get your doubts cleared.

Legal GK. Read up your 10th Standard Civics book thoroughly. Legal GK asked in law entrance
examinations generally deal with Constitutional GK. So, do buy a pocket-size version of the
India Constitution and read it whenever you have time.

Maths. Maths will not be a very difficult section. All those who are pretty strong at maths, can
breeze through your modules and just do the questions in the different mocks that they would
take to be assured of a good score.
However, in a competitive examination like CLAT, it is important to develop a good speed while
solving mathematics questions. So, having a knowledge on time-saving shortcuts is necessary.
For those not so confident about maths, it is time to set the ball rolling. Buy the big, fat M.Tyra
book and start practicing the questions. In the end, maths will be a cakewalk for you.

General Knowledge / Current Affairs. It also has got two sections.

Static GK. May people say that the term is a misnomer and misleading, as well. However, for
CLAT purposes, let us stick to it (let us also assume that static GK will be a part of CLAT 2013).
Static GK is basically traditional or conventional GK. Histoty, Economy, Polity, Geography etc.
To master this section, read some books. Basically, your standard school level textbooks on these
subjects would do. Added to that, Pearsons book on Static GK is the best in business. It is a
big book, literally and you might find it somewhat dreary.
But I will advise you to cover it up. I didnt and now I am regretting it.

For Current Affairs preparation, go through online forums, Hindu and Pratiyogita Darpan.

And yes, be sincere and diligent from Day 1. Enjoy your life. However, the time you devote to
study for CLAT, make the most of it. Utilise it effectively. The key is not the quantity of
preparation, but the quality of it. Make sure that the 60 minutes of the day, you sit to study for
CLAT, is the most fruitful hour of the day.
More in the next thread. Happy CLAT-Cracking. Adios!

Did you study all that shit for CLAT

The other day, my smartfuck of a friend and fellow NUJS firstie, Aayush Rathi asked me,
apparently quite shocked, Dude, did you really study all that shit? No sane person in this
world would have been able to lap all that up.
There, I should have come up with a disclaimer, This is just a super-idealistic way of
preparation for CLAT, I certainly dont recommend. Meant for only those who are prepared to
slog hard day in and day out and wont settle for anything less than AIR-1, next year. For all the
others, you might just incorporate some of these things in your daily schedule.
Because, seriously, though I mentioned a whole lot of books to cover and a plethora of things to
do to perform well in CLAT, I never covered up all of that. Neither did many of my friends who
have been placed at other prestigious law schools in the country.

The normal CLAT routine

So, now let me brief you up on what an average Joes key to cracking the CLAT is. Umm..
not exactly the key, but a journey which you can definitely enjoy and which will have a sweet
result in the end, in all probability, if not the sweetest.
November is almost round the corner. So, that gives you around 180 days before you are gonna
face the exam day grills. If you want, these 180 days can be the most productive but still
enjoyable 180 days of your lives, till date.
Okay, I am not counting Boards and shit while talking about enjoyment. I didnt prepare for
CLAT while taking my Boards, so I really dont know. Those who have their Boards as well as
CLAT to worry about, may not like to proceed further with this article.

A dropper? Hi mate, read on

However, having been a dropper, I feel the so-called droppers will find a connect with this
article.In fact, let me admit, this is meant just for them. Yes, the outcast group, droppers.
Ahoy, my dear friends, you can turn this otherwise dismal year into the most enjoyable,
interesting, engaging as well as informative time of your life. So, here you go!
A droppers guide to cracking the CLAT, or at least enjoying the process of cracking it.
As of now, start reading some books and novels. This will do you a world of good.

For heavy readers, some strong philosophy is where you can start. Philosophy indeed,
provides us with the tools we need to critically examine our lives as well as the world in which
we live. And as aspiring lawyers, it wont harm us much.
You can start with the Bhagavad Gita, our very own ancient Indian philosophy to get an idea on
detachment, karma, maya, senses, body, mind, language, knowledge, purusha and prakriti.
Follow that up with works on Aristotle and Platos philosophy related to work, ethics, life, death
and science.

If you want to be aware of the pros and cons of western philosophy, Bertrand Russels A History
of Western Philosophy is a must-read.
Selected Philosophical Writings by Rene Descartes is a good way to start off with the nuances of
western philosophy.
For modern philosophy dealing with religion, morality and culture, the way to question
traditional notions on them from an existentialist point of view, Freidrich Neitzsche is the man
you have to look forward to.
For the more adventurous willing to dabble in post-modern philosophy, Derrida will help you.

For those, who are not used to such profound philosophical notions, I can recommend you some
books, mostly on fiction, which present thoroughly gripping reads.
A case of Exploding Mangoes By Hanif Mohammed. A novel that deals with as engaging a
topic as a political assassination and that too, in an internal strife-ravaged nation as Pakistan. Go
back to the 1970s, the era of Zia ul Haq in Pakistan. Get to know of the various conspiracy
theories surrounding his death.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. A tale of friendship, good and evil, betrayal and in wartorn Afghanistan.
A Tiger at Twilight and Cyclones by Manoj Das. Different in appearance, similar in
articulation, two sides of the same name mutually reciprocating each other in exchange. It reeks
of deep philosophy.
Chanakyas Chant by Ashwin Sanghi. A racy and gripping account of the old, wily and
cunning political guru of Chandragupta Maurya and his modern-day counterpart in the twentieth
century.
Enough with the books, now.

Holding back your dreams for CLAT?

Now is the time to do things you have always dreamt of but had never got the chance to try
them out, due to time constraint or whatever. You can now learn the guitar and actually know
the difference between G string of the instrument and the other G-string.
You can now try and put on the swimming suit you had dreamt of since childhood and hit the
waters. The adventurous you can go off on a trekking tour or else, rock-climbing and riverrafting.
You can hit the cricket pitch as much as you want and learn to make use of your height to bowl
lethal bouncers.
You can learn the elegant and fine art of dribbling the football, slowly but steadily seducing your
feet. You can go hammer and tongs at creating memes and troll photos, for they are certainly the
toast of the day on the internet, now. You can give a vent to the photographic instinct in you and
go on a wild clicking spree.
However, I would advise you to think twice before creating a Facebook page on your
photography. Enough of that shit now. There may be better ways of promoting your genius.
You can also shrug off the heavy burden of maths, physics and chemistry of all those years and
get to know more of the journalistic side in you by penning down articles on any topic you like
and sending them to prominent newspapers or else scribbling down random notes on your own
blog.
You can search the Web and make a grand collection of all the Beatles hits of the yesteryears.
You can create a documentary on 23 years of Sachins stay in international cricket and his
century of tons.
You can also lie down quietly on bed, look up to the ceiling fan and then wondering about the
point and objectives of human existence and life until you hear your friends car honking outside
asking you to come over for a drive.
In fact, you can also try and think of various ways of wooing that childhood crush of yours. As
they say, an idle mind is a devils (or rather the forlorn lovers ) workshop.

Chances are decent that before the end of the year, your Facebook status would read Committed
to Ms. Derpina. In short, you can literally do anything that pleases you and makes you feel
better about life. Literally. You can just cheeeel. It wont do you any harm, at all, and not dent
your chances of cracking the CLAT too.
Thirdly, what would life be like, without some good old charming movies? Virtually, there is
no guy on the earth who doesnt have a thing for war movies.
The likes of Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, The Platoon, The Pianist, Casablanca will get
you hooked to your DVD system. For the ones who are interested in deep-rooted philosophy,
Memento, Blade Runner, Waking Life, Seconds, Matrix, Seventh Seal and Being There should
be your breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Those who dont mind a spine running down their backs, should swear by Psycho, The Exorcist,
Alien, The Thing, Dawn of The Dead etc. For the more romantic of you all, who are prone to
belching out Awwwws everytime you see a guy and girl staring at each other onscreen, the
likes of A Walk to Remember and The Notebook should be your cup of tea. The ones who are
addicted to social drama may try out Bicycle Thieves and Human Resources.
If you are a hardcore Bollywood fan, then you have flicks like Ek Tha Tiger, Student of The
Year, Zindagi Live and Maximum to look forward to.
For everyone else, there is of course, The Shawshank Redemption and Schindlers List. Two
must-watches on my list.

If you are tired of all this movie-watching, you can bank upon some awesome
sitcoms. Boston Legal is a must for every aspiring modern-day law student. Same goes for Suits.
Then there are The Big Bang Theory, South Park and many more.
The gaming geeks must try out stuff like DOTA, and Euro 2012 on their PS3s, apart from the
regulars like CounterStrike.
You have so much time on your hands that you can afford to be socially active all day long. The
Facebook tab remains open 24 x 7. And by this, I am not asking you to while away your time on

it. You can utilise that time most productively. You will get to encounter many people who will
be your batchmates one day or may be even roomies. They will be your best friends.
I can say that because most of my besties I made through online contacts, have been placed at
NUJS, along with me and I feel closer to them than most of my friends out here. You will get to
learn about law as a career, law school life. You will come across many of your seniors who will
be your friends, philosophers and guides in the future.
There are a lot of informative websites and blogs , which I believe, you will be able to track
down and find out. And yes , you will also stay updated with the Current Affairs, which will, of
course, help you in your preparation for CLAT. You would enjoy each and every moment of it
the journey. Sometimes, the journey matters more than the destination.

Droppers, worth three generations

And lastly, learn to ignore and spew back venom at people who doubt your capability as a
person, just because you dared to drop a year to get a better rank in CLAT or just because you
chose to do something different, by opting for law. At the end of five years, you will probably be
earning more than their three generations combined.
This period, my dear friends, can be a honeymoon for you, if you desire it to be so. You dont
have to get downright serious for CLAT as an impending danger, before October. Thats when
most of the mocks start and you find yourself automatically adjusting your schedule in such a
way that your preparation for the D-day goes on smoothly.
However, as of now, you can go and discover all the good things of life! This is not just fun, for
it will help you build your personality as well, in the long run. It will let you learn many things
about life.
Hence, my dear friends, its time to sit back and reflect on what went wrong the last time around
and then enjoy your lives to the hilt. You can start working hard to rectify those mistakes a few
months later. Its not the time to start SERIOUSLY preparing for CLAT yet. Rather prepare
yourself for the long battle of life, ahead.


Samyak Sibasish is a 1st year student at NUJS, Kolkata