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Experiences of Interns
“The attention to detail in every work published by the organisation, has left an indelible mark on me. The experience has taught me that one’s work should reflect the highest quality and professionalism. Going forward, I will apply these learnings in my personal and professional life, and continuously strive to be the best at my work. Every work assigned to me by PLD was extremely interesting and challenging in their unique ways, which enabled me to advance my knowledge and shape my worldview.” – Anirudh Ramanathan, Final Year, Government Law College, Mumbai, February-April, 2022
“I learnt a lot from the internship as I was exposed to a diverse set of perspectives. It challenged my existing opinions and it facilitated me to develop my knowledge surrounding the sociology of law. This internship has opened up future opportunities in both research and publications. Sexual harassment in the unorganised sector from the perspective of the malfunctioning of the Local Committees is one of the areas I’m looking forward to researching and writing about. This topic, when discussed in the SHARP session, was eye-opening and made me understand how neglected this issue was. The pathetic state of Local Committees is in need of attention and I would like to contribute to creating awareness about this through my writing. Overall, the internship has had a positive impact on my perspective, research and writing.” – Sankari. B, BA LLB (5-year Programme), Year II, National Law School of India University, Bangalore (NLSIU), January- March, 2022
“I really appreciated the intern check in meetings. PLD genuinely seemed to care about what their interns were thinking about and wanted to incorporate our thoughts into their program. The internship coordinators were thoughtful and set realistic guidelines.” – Raghu Aggarwal, LLB 2024, Jindal Global Law School, December 2021-February 2022
“At PLD I completed a 3-month internship, where I did a range of work, such as compiling five years’ worth of research on sexual harassment in the workplace, to evaluate and produce a report on the effectiveness of the current law, and worked on restructuring PLD’s website. I was also able to go to some of the conferences PLD organises surrounding the topics of ‘sexuality and sexual harassment’ and ‘child marriage.’ It was an invaluable experience, where I was able to work with a dynamic and welcoming team, and outside of work was able to travel and discover an incredible country. I would highly recommend this opportunity!” – Beatriz Fialho da Silva, LLB from University of Warwick. Internship period: September to December 2018.
“I had a very educational and meaningful experience at PLD. The team was very cooperative and helpful. I assisted with the intervention in Joseph Shine’s case and a paper on non-normative relationships. Projects like these helped me unlearn a lot of my concepts. I am extremely grateful for the month long experience.” – Ekta Rathore, 5th year BA/LLB student at NUSRL Ranchi. Internship period: July 2018.
“I was entrusted with a task from at the outset of the internship period, which helped immensely with figuring out my place in the organization. The fact that the tasks were assigned from the very beginning not only allowed me to plan my duration there, but also permitted me to identify what was expected of me, and thereafter helped me to monitor, and assess my development and learning. The staff at PLD was extremely helpful, and took out the time to guide me regarding things which were new to me. I also got a chance to attend meetings and thereby gained an insight into the workings of the entire project undertaken, as well as into the other parts of the project in which I was not directly involved. My stay at PLD was a highly enriching experience” – Tusharika Mattoo, 1st year LLB, Law Faculty, Delhi University. Internship period: June to July 2014.
“After spending 7 weeks interning at the organization I feel that not only did I make friendships but learned so much especially regarding international human rights law, criminal law, and women’s rights. My favourite part of the day was when we all a gathered around for lunch and spoke about everything from women’s rights, and what projects we were working on to travel and food. Everyone at the organization is dedicated, organized and knowledgeable about the law and women’s/human rights. There is a diverse collection of books/ resources at ones disposal for research and reading. I would say that I have learned a tremendous amount during this internship and would highly recommend PLD” – Elisabeth Doyle, JD from George Washington University Law School. Internship period: May to July 2013.
“The focus of my internship was to read up on Voices Against 377’s involvement in the Naz Foundation case at the Supreme Court and give the website a overhaul, in time for the judgment that is to come out soon. I have learnt immensely from my time at PLD – I really appreciated Madhu and her team’s input into my work and I gained new perspective into an issue that is still met with hostility from several quarters. I was also asked to contribute in research and summaries for other PLD projects such as Witch-hunting, Feminist Law Archives and Violence Against Women and I thus, learnt and imbibed skills that would carry me in good stead in Law School” – Harshvardhan Goel, 1st year LLB, NLSIU Bangalore. Internship period: February 2013.
“I interned at PLD from August to November 2012 and very much enjoyed the experience. I was exposed to a wide range of work, from developing a report on witch hunting practices to assisting at a conference on ‘violence against women and the law’ to establishing PLD’s facebook page and website blog. It was fascinating to experience how the legal system is used in a different culture, and I learned a lot about how the law can be used to promote or stall development. Living in Delhi was exciting and eye-opening and I enjoyed the chance to explore more of India at weekends. I definitely valued my experience at PLD and enjoyed learning from everyone in the PLD team.” – Claire McEvilly, LLB, University of Sydney. Internship period: August to November 2012.
“I worked at PLD as a part-time Documentation Assistant during September 2008- August 2009 while pursuing my M.A. in International Relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Having access to the treasure-trove of resources in PLD’s library was among the best things to have happened to me in those formative years. Whether I contributed meaningfully to PLD’s work is not something that I can judge, but I would like to record the gratitude of benefiting immensely from the exposure I got while working there and through the open, warm and enriching conversations that Madhu engaged me in.” – Sneha Banerjee, PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University Delhi. (Subsequently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Zurich with the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship) Internship period: September 2008 to November 2009.
“My experience at PLD helped me put my legal education in context and opened my eyes to the importance and complexity of a number of issues in India and across the globe. During my time with PLD, I researched marriage law, and this sparked an ongoing interest that shaped the rest of law school and subsequent choice of career.” – Sarah Downer, JD from Harvard Law School (Subsequently, a Clinical Fellow and Staff Attorney at Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School). Internship period: June to August 2007.