' My past can’t tie me down,’ wrote Karthika Annamalai, who cracked the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2011.
In her childhood, Karthika followed her mother down into the steep quarry where the latter worked. She would sit a few metres from her mother, watching her frail body shatter stones with a heavy hammer. A heart-shaped mark on Karthika’s forehead, formed when a piece of stone hit her, is still a reminder of what life might have held for her.
Now Karthika is headed to the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, one of India’s top law schools. On why she wants to pursue law, she says: “One day, I want to work for the United Nations Human Rights Watch. I decided years ago I wanted to be a human rights lawyer, fighting against the many social injustices in India, a handful of which I’ve seen in my family and community. I also want to join politics. When I see politicians today, I despair. They have so much power to change things, but they hardly do anything. I need that power to change the world.”
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