Nalsar grad awarded Gates Cambridge Scholarship 2012 One of only three Indians chosen this year

Suhasini Sen, a Nalsar graduate (2009) has been awarded the Gates Cambridge Scholarship becoming one of only three Indians to be awarded the presitigious scholarship this year. In this e-mail interview, Sen talks about her initial reaction, judicial clerkships and her future plans..Bar & Bench: First of all congratulations on being one of three Indians to be awarded the Gates Cambridge Scholarship. What was your initial reaction?.Suhasini Sen: Naturally, I was delighted. Mentally, I had only planned as far as the interview and had not actually factored in the possibility of actually getting the scholarship. So perhaps I was also bit startled, though happily..Bar & Bench: So you graduated from Nalsar in 2009 and then decided to do a clerkship in the Supreme Court. Any reasons why you chose a clerkship over the more traditional options such as practice or a law firm?.Suhasini Sen: When I was graduated, I couldn’t make up my mind about whether I should head for an academic job or whether I should go into practice. I thought that the clerkship was a good way to get a taste of both..Bar & Bench: What was the experience of a clerkship like? After that you joined the chambers of Nitya Ramakrishnan. Did you find that the clerkship allowed you to see the “other side of the coin” so to speak, in terms of knowing how a judge’s mind works?.Suhasini Sen: The clerkship was a lot of fun. I was taught a lot of the first principles in several branches of law, all of which I have fallen back on repeatedly in practice as well. I wouldn’t really say that you can ever know how a judge’s mind works, but certainly you get a bird’s eye view of how the judicial system as a whole works, a sense of court craft and of course you get to learn so much actual law just by watching and listening..Bar & Bench: How did you learn of the Gates Trust? When did you start the application process?.Suhasini Sen: The application for a Gates Scholarship is part of the regular application form to Cambridge University. So I found out about the Trust when I began preparing my application for my LL.M..Bar& Bench: What were the steps involved in the application process? How did you prepare for the interview?.Suhasini Sen: To apply for the scholarship you need to complete your regular application to Cambridge University and along with it answer a separate essay for the Gates Trust on why you believe that you should be granted a Gates Scholarship. When I applied I tried to stay to true to what I had been taught over the last three years and hoped for the best at the interview..Bar & Bench: What are the three things that you are most looking forward to at Cambridge?.Suhasini Sen: I don’t think I can identify three things separately. Overall, I think I am just looking forward to a new challenge and an educational environment that I’ve never experienced and hoping that I’ll make the most of it..Bar & Bench: Any advice for students who might be interested in applying for the Scholarship?.Suhasini Sen: I’m probably too young to be giving advice to any one else. But if I had to say something, then I’d say that the best thing to do is to be very clear in your head about what you want to do in law and why you want to do it. The rest just falls into place if your goals are clear.