IDIApreneurs: Legalight Founders on breaking stereotypes and igniting the NLU dream among Bihar’s hardworking high schoolers

A good result in an Indian examination tends to become a celebration of an achievement - and for good reason. Exams in India are among the most highly-contested in the world. .But we often ignore the motivation instilled in these achievers by numerous people along the way - those who have invested more than just resources or time in the people upon whom the spotlight finally falls..Meet Vivek Mishra and Ayush Kumar, two students of the Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna, who coach high schoolers for highly-competitive law entrance tests through their initiative called Legalight..This year, five of their students broke through the top 200 ranks in the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT 2020), with two of them also bagging top ranks in National Law University of Delhi’s All India Law Entrance Test (AILET 2020).."Of Legalight’s Batch of 38 students, Aadya Singh was ranked 2, Jai Singh Rathore, 3, Anand Kumar, 5, Yashwanth Kumar ranked 48, Harshita Kushwah, 159."Team Legalight.CLAT 2020: IDIA scholars bag Ranks 3, 5 and 48.Jai Singh, Anand, and Yashwanth are IDIA trainees.Vivek Mishra.Vivek, founder of Legalight and the IDIA Bihar Team Leader, says of the students, “They’re really happy, they’re overwhelmed by all the attention.”.Vivek says that his first step, before he embarks on the task of coaching the students, is to shatter the misgivings about their lack of privilege or inadequate knowledge of the English language with a simple message:."The first thing is that the exam is not just about you qualifying, it is more about breaking stereotypes people have that only people from big cities qualify this exam, (that only) they have the opportunity to study in the best of National Law Universities.".Legalight partners with the IDIA Chapter in Bihar as the Chapter’s knowledge wing. Vivek presently serves as the Team Leader of the IDIA Bihar Chapter, with Ayush as Deputy Team Leader..The Legalight dream sprang out of an interaction with Professor (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer and after his stint as an instructor with IDIA, Vivek says..“I got an opportunity to meet Shamnad sir, that actually motivated me in some way to do something for the people.”Vivek Mishra.Encouraged by his batchmates and others, Vivek began collecting funds to begin his own initiative to train students for law entrance exams. The initiative would not be separate from IDIA, however. Vivek was in the second semester of his five-year undergraduate law degree programme at CNLU when Legalight began taking shape..His initial batch comprised mostly of IDIA trainees chosen by the Chapter. Now, with the expansion of the initiative, there are persons outside of IDIA who attend the classes as well..“Earlier I used to have only 20 students … students from IDIA. (Now) Whatever students that we have - let's say, for example, I have a batch of 30 students - out of that 30 students, 10-12 students are from IDIA.”.Vivek speaks appreciatively of how well his students have reciprocated the founders’ enthusiasm at every step. His students have willingly sat through classes that begin at 11 AM and continue till 8 PM..“They have this passion…There were students who were sometimes disinterested and walked out of the classes. But others reciprocated at every step.”Vivek Mishra.This year, Legalight coached 38 students for the law entrance exams, 17 of whom were IDIA Trainees..During the COVID-19 lockdown, with classes suspended and the future uncertain, classes were held over Zoom, Vivek informs..Given the fact that many students came from families with meagre means and home environments, many of them initially had trouble with this mode of conducting classes. Further, poor network connectivity and fluctuations meant that lessons were sometimes cut-off during classes..That was when IDIA stepped in and funded data packs for the students. Class timings were also revised to ensure the least disruption..“During the daytime, we ran a few classes and we found that they (students) are facing a lot of network fluctuations. So classes used to start at 7 at night (or) at 11 at night, after all students had their dinner. So at night we used to start (classes) and they used to continue till 4 in the morning.”.Often tired by the long study hours, his students would raise protest. Responding to this, Vivek told them, .“... if you don’t study from 11 to 8, somebody else who has good schooling, good primary schooling, whose father has given them a very privileged schooling, they will do better than you, they will beat you, so you need to know this. Only thing you can do is outwork them.”.In between classes, he speaks with his students about life, cracks jokes, and tries his best to help his students, Vivek says..Vivek is still a student himself, with the demands of his own coursework to fulfil..On how he manages to balance his work with Legalight and his own academics, he says that he would attend classes at University till 2:15, quickly grab a bite to eat, borrow a bike, and reach the Legalight coaching centre, where he would teach till around 7 or 8 in the night..“My attendance is short, always short”, he laughs, but there are teachers who “definitely are supportive.” .“They understand me, the entire journey”, he adds..However, the task is not easy. He admits that "the journey" has been very tough, especially when the entrance test dates coincided with terminal or semester exams at the University..“…It’s like, you write the exam and then you come back here, and then you teach people till 7 or 8 or 9 at night... ", he remarks. .The work behind the initiative - including the preparation of study material and promotional activities - is presently being handled by a small, dedicated team. Vivek says,.“... there are only two people who teach there and both of us are associated with IDIA. So if you’re seeing a poster out there, we are the people who are making the poster; if you’re seeing a video out there, we are the people who are taking/editing the video. Classes, materials, printing everything - it’s like only two people..”.Vivek also explained how he conducts classes at Legalight, especially to strengthen his students’ familiarity with English:“I have a storytelling method of teaching vocabulary. I tell stories from my life, I tell or hear stories from their life and that is how we do the whole ‘teaching’ part.”.His students connect better with the young Legalight team than with older teachers, he adds..“... the best part is, nowhere in the entire journey did we act as if we are the teacher, it was always that we are just seniors. And that is exactly what we really are.”Vivek Mishra.On Legalight's plans for the future, Vivek adds:."We want to innovate the law test prep industry as well as how the law is being taught in law schools. We need to customise education to the individual needs of the students. Also, law books seem very dry and boring. We believe we can make it fun and interesting, boosting the law prep industry and legal education in India while working with IDIA in diverse roles, empowering underprivileged law aspirants and, thus, increasing the representation of people from different communities across legal sectors in India..."