'My past can't tie me down' was the title Karthika Annamalai gave to a write-up she gave us on herself. She studied at Shanti Bhavan, a non-profit organization for children from economically and socially deprived families. Before Karthika was found by Shanti Bhavan in 1997, she was being taken care of by a small convent that gave her food and shelter. Her mother, a widow, worked in a quarry breaking stones and she stayed with her uncle, a violent alcoholic.

The drunken violence of her uncle often forced her to take refuge in neighbours houses. As a reminder of those days, she still keeps near her be... readmore

Tudumu Andalu studied at Sai Junior College, run by the Devnar Foundation for the blind in Hyderabad. Her family is of five, which is supported entirely by an elder brother, who is the sole breadwinner. Her father is no more and her mother is a homemaker. Acquiring education was a struggle for her; but she is grateful to God and others that she has been able to come so far. She aspires to become a successful lawyer one day and help the visually impaired community and also society in general through her advocacy skills. She is willing to put in long hours and tireless effort in order to translate her ambition into re... readmore

Bhimavarapu Mouli Aravind is a visually challenged student from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh. He has completed his plus two under the Andhra Pradesh State Board and has secured a stellar 91.2 percent in the Commerce stream. Arvind's father is a compounder in a hospital while his mother is a homemaker. He has a younger brother who studies in the 9th standard. Arvind's interests include playing cricket and listening to music. He was introduced to the idea of studying law through an IDIA sensitization program conducted at his school.

Prior to this, Arvind had no knowledge about the enormous opportunities thrown op... readmore

Arepalli Naga Babu is a visually challenged student from Machlipatnam. He hails from a family of five with an income of 36,000 rupees per annum. He did his schooling till the tenth standard from his village. Despite being fully visually impaired, Naga Babu secured 80% in the State board exams.

Naga Babu believes that IDIA had provided him with very good opportunities and training facilities. He thanks all IDIA team members for providing him with constant support and motivation. Naga Babu's long term goal is to become an I.A.S officer and lead his community to a brighter future. He believes that law school wi... readmore

Arindam Bhattacharjee. As a diligent student of Science in the 12th standard under the West Bengal State Board in Berhampur in Bengal, at first, he had planned to pursue medical studies, but law caught his fancy one day when he heard about the CLAT and the esteemed national law schools in the country. His father is a lawyer who practices at the Murshidabad District Court while his mother is a homemaker. His elder brother is a high school teacher in English. Their combined family income is no more than Rs. 20,000 per month.

Arindam's two greatest role models are Swami Vivekananda and his own father. His ... readmore

Mukesh Kumar Kori is a student of Science under the CBSE Board and did his schooling in Hyderabad. His father is an ex-army service personnel while his mother is a homemaker. His family income per month amounts to no more than Rs. 7,200.

Mukesh's interests include photography, drawing, debating, etc. Although Mukesh planned to become an engineer earlier, given his strong argumentative skills and leadership abilities, he soon realized that law was his true calling. Since then, there has been no looking back and IDIA has been ever-present to help him in any way possible, be it monetarily or ot... readmore

Johnson Subba completed his 12th standard in the commerce stream under the CBSE Board in Pelling Higher Secondary School in the small town of Pelling in Sikkim. His father is a peon in the Power Department while his mother is a homemaker. Johnson also has a younger brother who is studying the in the 12th standard. Their combined family income is no more than Rs. 13,500 per month.

He is glad to have been introduced to the idea of law as a career option by IDIA and believes that law will be an interesting field of study for him. His hobbies include playing football, reading fiction, singing and play... readmore

Goram Siva Sankar is a visually challenged student from Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. His father is a farmer in Kurnool and his mother is a home maker. Shiv Sankar comes from a financially disenfranchised family with an annual income of Rs. 30,000 rupees. He has a younger brother who helps his father with farming. He studied in a Telugu medium school in his village.

He was forced to discontinue his studies in the 7th standard as his vision reduced drastically and his school in the village did not have opportunities to cater to the blind. He completed his 10th standard privately with the help of a blind teacher.

Bandi Sudhakar is a visually challenged student from Khammam. He hails from a family of 5 with a meager combined income of Rs. 18,000 per annum. He has an older brother who is visually challenged as well. Sudhakar did his entire schooling in Hyderabad.He enjoys listening to stories, especially epics. He also has a keen interest in the political system of our country.

He believes that the IDIA programme has benefited him immensely. The teaching methodology and the classroom discussions kept his interest going.Prior to the programme, he had no knowledge about the various opportunities available to one in t... readmore

Rahul Yadav is the son of a flour mill mechanic whose annual income is Rs 70,000. This didn't affect his zeal of doing something challenging in life. One day he read about IDIA in the local edition of Times of India, and contacted the Bihar Chapter volunteers through whom he was made aware of a hitherto unexplored career option for himself and his family i.e law.

After he visited Chanakya National Law University, Patna and interacted with the students there, he was quite enthusiastic about pursuing this career option. He was determined to crack the CLAT at his very first attempt. He joined the free coaching classes run by the IDIA volunteers ... readmore

Ria Siuli is the daughter of an illiterate father who owns a small grocery shop which yields a meagre monthly income of a Rs. 4,000. She hails from the village of Basanti, in Sunderbans and had stunned everyone by shattering the myth that law schools are the sole preserve of rich kids from urban backgrounds.
She did not know anything about CLAT until an IDIA team, from NUJS visited her school. The students took a diagnostic exam and 4 among them were selected for further training under IDIA. She was one of them. Thus, began a journey which changed her life. Inspite of the initial apprehension of her parents, she started going to NUJS and atte... readmore

A year and a half back, Vipan Kumar, residing in the village of Phagwara near Jalandhar, was utterly confused. He had just taken his 12th standard board examinations and was clueless about which line of study to pursue. His father worked in a sugar mill and his monthly income was less than Rs. 4,000. Due to such financial constraints, his options of further study were very limited. But in June 2010 he got a new sense of direction. His uncle, who was working as the driver in the WB NUJS, Kolkata informed him about IDIA. Thus, began his journey on the path of legal education which was set-off by a chance encounter with law. He started preparing for the... readmore