For law professor, life turns full circle

Every city has its rags to riches story, and the story of Sarfaraz Ahmed Khan is something that fits the bill perfectly.

During the 1980s, Khan started off as a vendor on the sidewalk of Esplanade, selling sarees and today he is the professor of law at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences NUJS.

Khan gets nostalgic about his school days, and he says, it was nearly impossible for his father to fend for a family of seven, so, he being the eldest, had no other choice than to offer his father a helping hand in his business of hawking sarees. "I used to sell sarees in the scorching heat and study late into the night," he says. It was the grit and determination of Khan and his love for education that kept him going.

Later, as he completed the Secondary and Higher Secondary exams in 1988 and 1990, respectively, and worked part-time with the local branch of United Bank of India as its commission agent of mini deposit schemes. He completed graduation from South Calcutta Law College, and then his LLB from the Calcutta University. Khan completed M.Phil this year from NUJS. The name of the school that he was started is Saket Public School.

"We organise 10 to 12 career counselling sessions every year, at our school for students of Classes IX to XII where a large number of my friend from distinct professions share with the students about available career options. We organises this programme mainly in vernacular language schools in Topsia and surrounding areas," he says, adding that since the last four years they have been organising free crash course for underprivileged students who pass higher secondary and want to join LLB course at Calcutta University.

His career took a turn, when he got himself enrolled as an advocate at the Alipore Judges' Court and then at the Calcutta High Court. But his quest for knowing more did not seem to know an end. He acquired a Master's degree in law from the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata, specialising in Alternative Dispute Resolution. NUJS then appointed him as a lecturer of law.

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