A WOMAN BORN TO RULE - DR. SASHIKALA GURPUR

A WOMAN BORN TO RULE - DR. SASHIKALA GURPUR

The strength of a woman is not measured by the impact that all her hardships in life have had on her; but the strength of a woman is measured by the extent of her refusal to allow those hardships to dictate her and who she becomes.  - C. JoyBell C

And did she prove this quote right ? YES and that successful woman is Dr. Sashikala Gurpur.

Dr. Sashikala Gurpur graduated in law from Mangalore University in 1988.  She is currently reigning supreme as the Director of Symbiosis Law School, Pune and Dean of Faculty of Law, Symbiosis International University. 

She is the proud recipient of the Prestigious Fulbright Fellowship as also the Legal Education Innovation Award of SILF-MILAT in 2011 Scholar.  These are only two from the numerous prestigious awards and honors she has had in her career, so far and way to go!

Dr. Gurpur has been a winner of many distinctions and awards throughout her law studies. Today, she holds the reputation of having held office as a member of the Law Commission of India and having taught at the National University of Cork, Ireland in addition to having authored many academic books and carried onthe role as a constituent of Editing Boards of various foreign/ international journals.

Nearly 12 years of experience at SLS Pune had proved to be a journey of growth and learning for her. When she initially joined the Symbiosis Law School, Pune in 2007, she had behind her substantial years of teaching and research experience in reputed institutions in India and abroad.

Further, buffered by an international corporate stint and NGO experience, she was clearly looking at education as a means to an end for students. For this, she strongly felt that a blend of corporate management and a mentor-guru relationship is the right approach.

Her unfailing mantra is human development, through capacity building in staff, students and faculty with a carefully structured skill chart, process and team culture.

Dr. Sashikala Gurpur was fortunate enough that the top management of Symbiosis provided her that essential space and support with their time-tested experience and brand. Her team consisting of people with an average age of 30 years proved to be of great support, eager and enthusiastic to learn and branch out further.

She, with her efficient team insisted upon ‘doing good to do well’ thus going on to strengthen community legal service. Besides, overall quality and excellence focus in Symbiosis International with its inter disciplinarity added to the Midas Touch of Dr. Gurpur.

While in 2007, the application intake ratio at Symbiosis Law School, Pune was 15:1, it hiked up to 45:1 by 2017 due to her dedicated, well planned and ceaseless efforts.

Dr. Gurpur was also part of the team that designed Symbiosis’s own law entrance test by 2009.  She was also the face behind the upgraded programs to honours level which ultimately pushed up their international partnerships from 9 to 56.

It would be unfair to deny the fact that SLS Pune spearheads a unique 12-point internationalization under the able guidance of its equimanous and farsighted Chancellor Dr. S. B. Mujumdar and Pro-Chancellor Dr.VidyaYerwadekar.

It is relevant to state here that SLS, Pune was the only law school in India to be a part of the prestigious Erasmus Mundus Consortium. It has now been selected to be a part of the prestigious Erasmus Mundus programme which is about Capacity Building in Higher Education Project European Studies Revitalized Across Asian Universities (EURASIA).

In November 2017 SLS, Pune under Dr.Gurpur’s confident and worthy guidance, hosted the Global Law Deans’ Conference and Annual Meeting of International Associating of Law Schools. This was a unique step in the right direction as it saw the representation of more than 75 delegates from countries across the globe.

Legal education is expanding and breaking ground at the rate of 40% addition every year. New private players have entered the scene with noteworthy infrastructure, best of faculty and are involved in healthy competition and collaboration with the national law universities.

The need of the hour for students now is good professional mentors and practice-ready orientation to prepare them to meet difficult legal needs which appear to be the reason for huge backlogs in India as well as at the global level.

A dynamic and transformative leader is the need of the hour : There is no doubt that Dr. Sashikala Gurpur is one such leader.  She has always looked at faculty as colleagues providing them the space to air their views.  Never was there a feeling that she was the Dean and others were subordinate to her.  She carried them along as a team.  She was always the first to share her accolades and applause with them giving them due credit for their perseverance. 

Dr.Gurpur was never an island.  I was quite amazed at the way students, faculty and even non teaching staff gravitated towards her like family.  She always had a good word for each one she met on the corridors, classes or even the canteen. 

This particular trait made her unique. She stood out tall and magnificent by her humane and thoughtful ways. According to her “This teamwork helps me to realize their strengths and potential”.

The governance model is one that proves successful when it is inter-active and participatory.  All stakeholders of legal education such as lawyers, judges, parents, alumni, industry experts and   community organizations could engage to contribute to student-training and also provide feedback on governance as well as academic content.

It is a fact that the Symbiosis Law School is itself a huge University.  Its management requires major paperwork and administrative accountability and multifarious responsibilities.

Amidst all this apparent confusion, she is thrust with the responsibility of remaining unique and original among countless choices that the students may look at. Hence, she has thoughtfully chartered the safe path of reaching global standards in legal education.  However, this invariably compels them to undertake too many responsibilities in at short notice.

Therefore, the show stopper here is that pedagogy has to change to facilitate learning rather than culling out statistical information. 

Since the present day student lot is well informed, well prepared and well aware, holding their attention is very tricky.  You have to make your teaching interesting and welcoming. And that she does. 

Besides, she also suggests the use of technology with multimedia and experience-based learning.  You need in-built systems to include diverse learners as well as diverse learning styles.

Dr.Gurpur was asked to comment about the curriculum of SLS Pune and whether project – based learning should be integrated with the mainstream education system in India.  She very beautifully summed up her entire answer in the following two lines :

“The best practice of industry is brought in by robust and systematic feedback drawn independently and during placement interviews”.

On the other side of the coin, she ensures that the faculty leadership in various specialization committees builds in the latest national and global vision.  Competitive law school approaches, best practices and stakeholder feedback is synthesized into the revision process.

Project-based learning is a must across many courses. These pan out into research projects and term projects as learning, researching, and assessment avenues. Legal clinics in IP realm, as well as community legal care centre are some of the examples. 

The Under Graduate Curriculum includes 6 Legal Skills Courses that are spread throughout the 5 years. These are practical learning classes where students learn the skills of drafting, negotiation, mooting, advocacy, research, transaction, ethics, alternative dispute resolution, simulation, and client counselling. These are guided as experiential learning through internships, field visits, sharing ideas with experts who visit or camp at SLS Pune. Most of the law students at SLS Pune were and are very fortunate to be participants at special lectures delivered by illustrious Legal Luminaries like Ram Jethmalani, Fali S. Nariman, Rohinton S. Nariman and so on.

            Nowadays, college rankings play a very crucial role, and the fact that SLS Pune has bagged the top ranks in the past several years is a testimony to the fact that it is updated with skills required to have a high ground in the present industry.

Project-based learning being integrated with mainstream learning is very essential because it ensures that knowledge, skills and values with multi various dimensions are all rolled into one and offered on a platter to the students.

         As for providing apt placement opportunities to the students, she stated that at Symbiosis Law School, this is taken care of through the Professional Development and Career Guidance Cell. This cell is so thoughtfully built that it maintains a database of companies, Law Firms, NGOs, etc. where law graduates can be appropriately placed for internships or jobs after completion of their Law Degree.

This cell is the birth child of countless hours of research.  It lists out avenues for the law students for their development, exposure and career building so that they are practice-ready while leaving the SLS portals. The students are handed out an introduction of skills and specializations in a progressive manner, culled out through careful research based on the profession and the industry and on stakeholder feedback.

What makes this Symbiosis Law School stand out is Dr. Gurpur’s unceasing efforts at providing various workshops and guest lectures on Entrepreneurship, Higher Education opportunities in India and abroad, systematic Personality Development, etc. through its Professional Development and Career Guidance cell. The students get a hang of a holistic path in progressively developing competencies for at least two options based on capacity, interest, and opportunities aligned with their specialized courses.

Hence, as the parent of a law student at SLS, Pune I can vouchsafe that most of the students are clear about their choices by the time they are in the penultimate year.

One more quality of Dr. Gurpur worth emulating is the fact that she is always available to the students for advice, counsel, guidance and what not.

At the very beginning of the semester, an orientation discussion is conducted for the new batch stepping into Symbiosis Law School, Pune.

With nostalgia, I remember gratefully the day when my daughter along with many others, was introduced to the faculty members and heads of all cells and clubs in the college. The students are all the time egged on to take active participation in co-curricular activities and events, such as moot court competitions, criminal trial advocacy competition, client consultation competition, workshops, symposiums, exchange programs and so on. The sky is the limit for all the activities that pan out before a law student.  But, we gratefully acknowledge the hours and hours of thought and work that would have gone into the making of all these activities possible. 

Again in her own words,

“Apart from being the Director, I am first and foremost a Professor”.

Even today, her lectures are always the most sought after and most attended ones.  And why not. 

“Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing”- William Arthur Ward. 

This was the thumb rule she had, has and will always have while teaching her wards.

Her first priority is to take time off to teach subjects to Under Graduate as well as Post Graduate Students. She is part of the mentor-mentee program that is run at SLSP and each year have 10-15 student mentees. Any student is free to contact her via email to which she responds promptly. Her cell number is available all the time and she practices open door policy.

Students are always welcome to meet her on campus for any issues. Apart from this, an Open House is conducted for all batches once in each semester i.e. twice a year where any student is free to raise any grievance or seek clarification, which is recorded and action is taken within 7 working days.

Her reflections about an ideal school environment is one where each and every student is open to an environment and ambience which maximises learning capabilities.  According to Dr.Gurpur, a free market of fearlessness and overall development can be defined as an ideal school environment. 

One another beauty about Symbiosis Law School, Pune is that it is home to a host of students from outside Maharashtra thus providing a multi cultural and multi traditional environment from around the country.

We can unostentatiously say that it is almost like a miniature India where students from Kashmir and Kerala, Manipur and Gujarat or Delhi and West Bengal sit in the same class rubbing shoulders and looking out for each other. Here, all castes, cultures and nationalities blend into one that is universal and that is “good human beings”.

Hats off to the University Management that has made this possible. The University celebrates all major religious festivals together and experience equal and enthusiastic participation from the entire college be it Ganesh Chaturthi or Saraswati puja or Navratri or Christmas or even Ramzan.

Besides, there are also cross country students from abroad.  Again as a parent, I was witness personally to the beautiful way in which cross cultures are assimilated here among students.  So much so, it is very difficult to distinguish students by their nationalities and cultures. 

For the purpose of international students, internationalization is in the very DNA of Symbiosis Law School and they can proudly claim that they have carried it very well on their shoulders over all these years. They are all bonded together as one SLS University in the name of “Universal Brotherhood”.

The students are also given the privilege of wearing their traditional clothes on Wednesdays and Saturdays to celebrate their religion and culture.  So, you will not be surprised to see a Tamilnadu student in a traditional saree or a Keralite male student wearing Mundu and Melmundu on one of these days.

The college also plays host to a special food festival on 31st July every year, being the birthday of the Chancellor, Dr. S.B. Mujumdar. 

Here, I will be failing in my duty if I do not talk about the noble man that he is.  A far thinking visionary, Dr. S.B. Mujumdar is the reason for what and why Symbiosis group of Institutions is here today.  And for all that, he is such a soft spoken man, always ready to listen to new ideas and new plans of action.

The Grievance Redressal Committee, as also the student welfare committee address the problems and difficulties of students thereby ensuring a smooth and unruffled sailing for the new entrants and also the senior in times of need. 

Symbiosis Law University makes available various scholarships UG Merit Scholarship, Central Sector SC/ST Scholarship, S.N. Gupta Scholarship, Ram Jethmalani Scholarship, S.K. Jain Scholarship, Shantanu Tomar Scholarship, Jayatee Deshmukh Scholarship, etc. to worthy students to ease out their expenditure.  It is relevant that in the last 10 years, the scholarships so disbursed amount to around Rs. 2 crores.

Dr. Gurpur, as I know her, is a very dedicated and sincere Professor.  According to her, “Nothing should be blindly accepted unless it conforms to logic and rationality”.

This is a very candid piece of suggestion from her to all budding lawyers. In her own words, “Legal education creates lawyers who serve the ends of justice. This role is performed not only in formal forums of dispute settlement, namely courts but also in other avenues such as governance, business, family, international interactions etc. In the core, it trains one in problem-solving and social equilibrium according to the rule of law. It is the only profession which is validated in the constitution. Be proud of your choice, make the best use of these learning years and also ensure that you contribute top-level human resource to the judiciary, legal practice, and businesses in India, and abroad guaranteeing efficiency and professionalism; thus defend justice and contribute to nation-development/human welfare”.

Dr. Sashikala Gurpur’s areas of specialisation and interest are International Law and Human rights, Jurisprudence, Legal Education and Legal Education and Legal Research, Public Law, Media Law, Comparative Law, Family Law, IPR, Community Legal Service, Global Justice and Biodiversity / biotechnology Law, Business and Human Rights.

Beyond all this facade, Dr. Sashikala Gurpur is a very warm person.  When we got to admit our daughter soon after her 12^th Boards into Symbiosis Law University at Pune, the attending confusion, anxiety and sorrow were large writ on our faces. Besides, we are from Tamilnadu.  Our daughter was just a child and the prospect of leaving her in a different state all together was frightening.  For us, language was also a barrier.  Add to this the visualisation of a different North Indian culture, North Indian food and different climatic environment.  All this was very overwhelming. 

It so happened that Dr. Gurpur was casually walking past us when we were seated in the waiting lounge for my daughter’s hostel accommodation.  Catching a glimpse of the anxiety large writ on our faces, Dr. Gurpur stopped in her tracks and approached us.  And what followed for the next ten minutes was unbelievable. 

Initially, she put us, the parents, at rest.  She made us understand that Symbiosis Law University and the Hostel are “a home away from home”. By her candid talking and body language, she convinced us that we had made the right choice in opting for their University. 

Next, she went on to sit near our daughter and converse with her.  Mind you, she was the Dean of the University.  Her casual chat with my daughter and concerned enquiries about her habits, hobbies and study habits were there for all to see.  And as the conversation took roots, slowly and steadily the anxiety and confusion in our minds and my daughter’s mind vanished.  She bolstered us with confidence, hope and joyful expectation of the unchartered journey ahead.  And actually made us look forward to it. 

That was not the end.  There were two or three other parents who were in the same quandary.  And there are ever so many stories of her putting them back on track with regard to their choice of this University.  And later I learnt from my daughter that Dr. Gurpur had periodically got back to her to see that she settled down fully and properly to the demands of a University and Hostel life.

Last but not the least, Dr. Gurpur has a knack of drawing everyone into her fold.  She is so cheerful and warm and friendly that you cannot but help migrating towards her.  So much so that we, as parents of a Symbiosis Law University student, have now become part and parcel of the University’s  progress, growth and victory strides.

And that’s the secret behind SLS, Pune sitting pretty and on top of all the Private Law colleges and fourth of all the Law collegesin the country and Dr. Sashikala Gurour sitting as its proud Dean-Director closeted by the Doyen of Maharashtra’s higher Education of Management and Law and Chancellor of SIU Shri. Dr.S.B.Mujumdar and his well accomplished daughter and Pro-Chancellor DR. Smt.Vidya Yerwadekar.

Finally I conclude with this beautiful quote of Kavita Ramdas

“We need women who are so strong they can be gentle,

So educated then can be humble,

So fierce they can be compassionate,

So passionate they can be rational

And so disciplined they can be free.

I see Dr.Gurpur’s name written all over this quote.  She is every bit of the quote and much more.

I am so glad that I am able to cull out a small accolade to her in the form of this writ-up.  That too during the International Womens’ Day 2020 Celebrations Week.

This is the least I thought I can dedicate to her who has, in her unique way, chartered my daughter’s career and had indirectly set a new trajectory of her life.