reflection

The eagerly awaited summer break was something we all needed as it was a mental and physical break from the extremely exhausting IB. We all planned on doing something constructive and worthwhile in these two months and although I did not travel, I made use of the break by taking up an internship in a law firm and by doing some social service. By doing these two things which I would not have otherwise done I learned something totally different and also reflected upon certain thoughts that came to my mind when I was by myself.

When I took up my law internship, I expected it to be less tiring than it actually was and walking from the High court and back. The experience was really enriching and taught me a lot but there came a point when the company I was doing my internship with was fighting a rape case. We were on the side of the defendant who was wrong in what he had done but we still had to support him and fight on his behalf only because it was our job to do so. I was in a conflict with my reason on one hand, and emotion on the other. I thought to myself quite a few times, whether it is ethical to support something that you are totally against and furthermore, something that is completely wrong. A person should be punished for the wrongs he has done, and if not punished, the last thing I would want to do is to support and try to protect that person. Then I reasoned I out and realized, that being a lawyer is a profession that demands you to manipulate the truth according to what your client wants it to be. Thus, during the period of this internship I was at a conflict between my reason and logic versus my emotion which including my guilt.

As I did not go out of town and spent my entire break in Bombay itself, I had spare time so I utilized it by helping some children with craft as they were mentally handicap and unable to use sharp objects such as scissors and blades without adult supervision. The students were quick at learning and after a few days I observed that they could use the sharp objects without having to be told how to use them, there was again a conflict between my emotions on one side, which said that if the children were permitted to do something on their own, they would improve at it, and the constant restriction from the teachers side is in some way restricting their potential and development. That was my emotional side as I wanted the children to be able to do something completely on their own but then when I reasoned with myself I realized that what was being done was only for their safety and compromised on my emotions as I went b my reason.

I realized that in life, in day to day tasks we face conflicts, be it between our emotions and reason, perception and emotions, there is mostly a conflict, we may be aware of it at times, and oblivious sometimes too, but these conflicts are inevitable as two of reason, perception and logic will always be against each other and thus the human mind faces a paradox when it actually has to make a choice or come to a consensus or take a decision.