Seniors walk on the write side of law

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The gathering outside Room No 103 of the Government Law College here on a damp Thursday morning spoke volumes of the rare sight inside. An Oscar-winning sound mixer and a Member of Parliament were writing their final year law exams. Resul Pookutty and Kodikunnil Suresh had missed Part 1 of their final year LLB exams around 20 years back. The university had granted them a chance to attend the exams and both had grabbed it knowing it was their last bid to clear it. As the clock struck 12, Resul Pookutty and Kodikunnil Suresh were ready with their papers. They took a minute to see if they had tied their answer sheets in order and, slowly, walked out, prepared for a maddening influx. A fixed smile and a trimmed beard lent a freshness to Pookutty’s face that looked fagged with his puffy eyes. "I didn’t have a wink last night. Man, I was studying right from 2 am,’’ Pookutty said. He was not joking. When Kerala University gave him a reception for bagging the Oscar a year ago, Pookutty had only one request - to let him attend the final year LLB exams.Pookutty joined the film institute while he was doing his LLB. He could not turn up for the final year exams as his mother was ill. Finally, when the university obliged, Pookutty was not ready to take any chance.Pookutty’s joy knew no bounds when he met Kodikunnil Suresh who had been his senior in the same college. How was the exam? Kodikunnil, who had earlier skipped his exams for politics, was a bit subdued in his reply: "It wasn’t easy. I should have prepared well.’’Nearby, the Law Academy also had a special guest for the LLB exams. Actor and director Balachandra Menon, who has kept to himself of late due to his ailments, turned up like a keen student to attend his LLB exams on Thursday. Congress leader Sarath Chandra Prasad also took his exam on the same day at the law college.