The Paradox of the Court, also known as the counter dilemma of Protagoras goes on and on in the world without a stop. A lot of important truths in life are contradictory. And, we get used to contradictions as a part, as we live our lives. The truth is, life is often illogical, paradoxical, and just blatantly strange. Protagoras’ paradox is a paradox originating in ancient Greece. It is said that the famous lawyer and scholar Protagoras took on a pupil, Euathlus for not paying his fees. The understanding was that the student Euathlus would pay fees to Protagoras for his instruction, after Euathlus wins his first court case. Protagoras was much in demand as a law teacher. After instruction, Euathlus decided to not enter the profession of law, and Protagoras decided to sue Euathlus for the amount owed.

Protagoras argued that if he won the case, he would be paid his money. If Euathlus won the case, Protagoras would still be paid according to the original contract, because Euathlus would have won his first case. On the other hand, Euathlus maintained that if he won, then by the court’s decision he would not have to pay Protagoras. If, on the other hand, Protagoras won, then Euathlus would still not have won a case and would therefore not be obliged to pay. The question is then, which of the two men do you think is right?

Protagoras’ paradox is about dilemmas and irony. Such paradoxes occur in real life situations. Projected figures of the death toll due to the Novel Coronavirus, right from Harvard to Imperial College, are based on complex calculations beyond the grasp of most of us. Equally mystifying is the downward or upward revisions by the same institutions. It is truly an infodemic which mean an excessive amount of information concerning a problem such that the solution is made more difficult within a pandemic. While the value of a human life can never be compared or quantified with economic cost, there is enough evidence to suggest a direct qualitative and quantitative relationship of economic wellbeing with life.

Leave aside health and economic issues; the virus has played havoc on our social fabric. In India, in a small village in Sitamarhi in Bihar, a 19-year old boy was lynched to death by people of his own village. What was his crime? He had reported to the police about his neighbours who had eventually returned from Delhi, braving all odds during the lockdown. The boy was afraid the migrants who returned would infect others, that the contagion would consume him and his family. A similar incident was reported days later from central UP with the only difference being that the victim was shot and not lynched. Strange things do happen in strange times. In a small town in the UP- Bihar border, a husband turned away his wife, who had returned from her ‘maika.’ This is because small town mohallas have declared themselves a ‘no entry’ area. In Amritsar, a Padma Awardee in his death with virus was denied cremation by all crematoria of the city that was his home for 82 yrs.

Look at this paradox; richest one percent of Indians own 53 percent of the country’s wealth, the richest 5 percent own 68 percent of the country’s wealth, while the top 10 percent have 77 percent. At the other end of the pyramid, the poorer halves of our countrymen jostle for four percent of the nation’s wealth. Income inequality in India may be at its highest level. This inequality ratio that has risen rapidly over the last three decades; in the 1990s there were no Indians on Forbes’ list of billionaires; today there are more than 100.

Think of this marketing paradox: marketers often say that nostalgia branding works incredibly well, evoking positive emotions from the recall of good experiences. Difference from “sameness” interferes with this brain-based response. But companies also operate under the assumption that sticking with tradition is a death sentence, and that organizations need to innovate for consumers to see them as productive and relevant…..as a Marketing Professor, I always find it difficult to explain.

Those who think they are smart always want to be at the top. They don’t take no for an answer. But two heads are better than one, and of course, there’s no ‘’I” in team. So are we supposed to be self-focused so we can reach the top rung of the ladder, or are we supposed to use group synergy to be more productive than we could be alone?

This is about social media: the more connected we get, the more inaccessible we feel. Despite being in more constant communication than ever, research finds an increase in loneliness and depression in the developed world over the past few decades.

The more choices available to you, the less satisfied you are with each one. This is the old “paradox of choice.” Research shows that when we are presented with more options, we become less satisfied with any particular one we choose. The theory is that when we have so many options, we have greater opportunities cost in selecting each particular one; therefore, we’re less happy with our decision.

The more you learn, the more you realize how little you know. This is one of the old Socrates adages. Every time you gain a greater understanding, it creates even more questions than it answers.

And this one paradox always boggles me the most; change is constant it occurs continuously. It is really profound, but are we ready for it always???

Ms. M.A. Sneha, an advocate aged 35 years in Tirupathur, is the first Indian citizen without a caste and religion. In fact, since her birth she has remained without any caste or religion.
Whether it was her birth or school certificate, the columns on caste and religion remained blank. In February 2019, the Tamil Nadu government issued Sneha a formal certificate that she is a caste and religion less person. She is the first citizen in the country to be formally certified so. She says that it took her nine years to acquire this ‘no caste, no religion’ certificate. Kudos to this young lady!!

Inherited caste identity is an important determinant of life opportunity in India, but is not given the same significance in global development policy debates as gender, race, age, religion or other identity characteristics. While caste systems deal with social structures within the physical world, religion is focussed more on the metaphysical. Caste systems are based on systems dealing with hierarchical issues, while religion is focused on metaphysical issues such as divine worship, morals, and ethical issues.

India’s caste obsession is well known in the world. The caste system is literally wired into the Indian mindset. For centuries it’s a natural part of life, and removing it is quite painful job. For ages in India, especially Hinduism divides the people into four classes: the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas and the Shudras. This system was used to help the Hindus administer their cities with adherence to a strict hierarchy. The priests hold the top of the hierarchy, who controlled everything, with the warriors below them, who fought wars with the approval of the priests. Then there were the merchants and traders, who helped feed and clothe the city, and then the workers, who were treated literally like slaves.

Similarly a long time ago, on the opposite side of the world, in a nation known as the United States of America, there were two racial groups, the ‘whites’ and the ‘blacks’. The whites had advantaged backgrounds, many of them directly or indirectly descendants of people from Europe, the Civilised Land. The blacks had a more inferior background. They came from the Savage Land, Africa, and had been brought by the whites by payment (just as one buys apples or peanuts from a department store), to work for them as slaves. This continued for almost two centuries until one day Abraham Lincoln, President of America announced that slavery has to come to an end. It came down real hard on the practitioners of slavery, so they separated, beginning a Civil War, which still echoes in the US to this day. However, the practitioners lost, and they were forced to finish slavery, but didn’t do so without setting up laws, known as the ‘Jim Crow’ Laws. Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. All were enacted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by white Democratic-dominated state legislatures after the Reconstruction period. The laws were enforced until 1965.

Here in India’s caste system and ‘untouchability’ have been a matter of profound interest to a large number of social science researchers, historians, and even the general public in modern times. Perceptions of Indian caste have taken such deep roots in the minds of non-Indians that often when we travel to other countries we are mocked. Questions are asked which caste we belong to; whether it’s an upper caste or lower caste during casual conversations. Frankly speaking, not enough attention has been paid to history of social hierarchy in India.

Caste-based reservation was introduced by the British Raj and continued by independent India. It covers higher education, public sector employment and legislative representation, applying to Dalits, Adivasis and Other Backward Classes. Our Constitution-makers introduced reservation only for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in jobs and in admissions to colleges, and that too for ten years after India was declared independent. It was decide that possible extensions would be given to give equal chance to the backward caste and tribes if need be. They rejected Dr. Ambedkar’s suggestion that it should be for a fixed period of 30 or 40 years, with no provision for extension. Thus, the system has been extended every ten years, for nearly 70 years.

In my opinion, when the world is progressing at such a faster pace in technology, science and other walks of life, does caste really matter? I am happy to see that youngsters don’t care …….but, they face the harsh reality in terms of reservation in education and jobs.

The Indian politicians want to hold on the caste card tightly. It is sad but in each and every state of the country, we can find that election is fought on the basis of religion and caste.

We do not possess a real general definition of caste. It appears to me that any attempt at definition is bound to fail because of the intricacy of the phenomenon. On the other hand, much literature on the subject is marred by lack of precision about the use of the term. Sardar Patel, the Home Minister during the political integration of India and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, addressed the nation to rise above caste and religion, because it will rapidly disappear. We have to speedily forget these things. But, can we?

Competent lawyers are the courtroom heroes. Law is an integral part of nearly every area of our life – from the environment, trade, education, medicines, entertainment, marriage, childbirth, sports to death. When things go wrong in society we first think of lawyers. Be it a divorce, stealing, bribery, bankruptcy, IP theft, corporate slip-ups; when fundamentals and practicalities begin to crumble, lawyers swoop in like heroes to protect their clients against the offenders. Taking help of lawyer is a simple instantaneous action, born out of necessity. People call lawyers not because they wantto, but because itnecessitates to.

Can a lawyers’ role be narrowly defined as an antidote to conflict? Are they required only to avoid or manage disputes? The common most notion of a lawyer is – the one who is skilled at finding ‘loopholes’ in the system and help his/her client escape from a sticky situation. But this is our narrow-mindedness if we define their role in such tapered frame. And, we cannot deny that to one up the law one must know the law.

Law is the way society regulates its behavior. It creates rules of conduct that are widely understood and gives us parameters for resolving disputes and defining acceptable codes of conduct. Our centralized, state, and local laws regulate everything from how we do business with each other to how we behave in public places, our duties and responsibilities in society, how we keep our surrounding to where we can park our cars. Because law is considered a technical profession not easily comprehended by the untrained, individuals and companies hire professionals-lawyers-to help them realize it and conduct the procedures it defines. The role of lawyers cannot be limited or underrated. Lawyers have enormous power, which they use daily to effect change for their clients. Without law and order we cannot live peacefully in this world. In some or the other way we permanently depend on lawyers.

Law has been one of the popular career choices for youngsters. Those who come from families of lawyers usually opt to study law. Anyone can choose to study law as long as one has the passion for it. There are many areas of specialization in law these days. Maritime Law, Cyber Law, Business Law, Civil Rights Law, Entertainment Law, Environment Law, Immigration Law, Health Law, Intellectual Property Law, International Law, Labor Law, Taxation Law and many more. I listed just few of them. Today for every action and every activity we find a specialized lawyer. Traditionally, students could specialize in either civil or criminal laws.

People who enter this demanding and comprehensive profession do so for many reasons. It is a great paying career and it is a challenging career which requires lot of research and people skills. If you love it make a career in it. To be precise, lawyers can have a broad range of responsibilities depending on the specific area of law they practice. But if you think being a lawyer mainly involves making speeches and grilling witnesses in a courtroom, think again. Even trial lawyers-those who specialize in courtroom litigation spend surprisingly little time before a judge or jury. For every hour in the courtroom, many more are spent doing research, conducting interviews, or writing documents in preparation for proceedings. Many lawyers, in fact, never set foot in court. They work in the back office.

In broad terms, lawyers apply their interpretation of the law (the codified rules of their society) to advise their employer or client on completing transactions in compliance with the law or resolving disputes based on current understanding of the law. At its most basic level, a lawyer’s role is that of a supporter and adviser. Attorneys use specialized knowledge to research and interpret the intent of the law and apply it to whatever circumstances their clients face. It’s an imperfect practice, as the interpretations of the law may vary significantly based on the circumstances of the situation.

The legal profession can be divided into two major categories: litigation and transactions. Litigation, which concerns both civil and criminal law, is the process of arguing a dispute between two parties. Transactions relate to business and personal matters that usually do not require courtroom argumentation. For example, a lawyer may counsel a client in the transactions of preparing a will, contract, or lease; to help secure venture capital for a new company; or to prepare a patent for a new technology. However, if the will is contested or if the venture capitalists sue the business owner for fraud, that would then require an attorney with litigation skill.

Depending on the type of law they practice, lawyers will spend their time on paperwork; researching, preparing for, or participating in trials and advising clients. They spend hours in law libraries, online databases, and case studies for researching legal precedents. They prepare contracts, to the point note, and other documents, assembling boilerplate paragraphs (it is the sections of code that have to be included in many places with little or no alteration) or writing from scratch. They need a sharp mind, sharp focus and razor-sharp communication skills. Humor and wit is an added advantage as it can lighten the courtroom atmosphere.

They plan and conduct depositions or interviews with witnesses. In complicated cases, these can generate thousands of pages of testimony-all of which have to be read, analyzed, and refined into usable information. They present their evidence-the information they’ve gathered about a case and about the laws relevant to a case-in a court of law, arguing before a judge and/or jury. Alternatively, they may present their research findings to clients, advising them on business or other issues.

If you want to make a splendid career in law, you need to sharpen your analytical ability, attention to detail, logical reasoning, persuasiveness, sound judgment and of course writing ability.  I want to list here one of the most essential element for the career and that is of emotional intelligence. They need to empathies with their clients, they need to respect and honor their colleagues, and most important they need to be good listeners.  Impassive, unemotional and detached lawyers are never in demand. The market does not want a lawyer who is only half a person. They also need to be tech savvy and good in time management.

If you are interested in making a career in law – you can either do a three-year law course after graduation in any discipline or a 5 years’ course after 12th class. In fact, the 3 years’ course is now giving way to the 5 years’ one which is seen as a better option. In most cases, colleges run the 3 years’ course only for those whose main discipline in graduation is something other than law, or working professionals who want to do an LLB as an additional qualification. The five year course is meant for those who want to take up law as a career – be it as a litigator, or any other kind of legal professional. For the five years course the national law entrance exam, CLAT (Combined Law Admission Test) which basically tests the student’s general English, legal aptitude, general awareness, logical skills, etc needs to be cleared.

The LLB course is regulated by the Bar Council of India which sets rules and regulations regarding legal practice in the country. Any specialization is done at masters, M. Phil or PhD stage. A higher degree helps candidates in their career advancement. It is an honorable career.

Our nation needs competent and efficient lawyers for enhanced law and order. People like Mahtma Gandhi, Dr. Amedkar, Lokmanya Tilak, Abraham Lincoln, and Nelson Mandela were some great people who had donned the Lawyer’s coat sometimes in life.