Nat’l Univ.of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi
Mrudula, a native of Wayanad district in Kerala, belongs to the Kattunayakan tribe (a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group) and falls under the Below Poverty Line category. She is the eldest among the children in her family and has two younger siblings – a sister in the 8th grade and a brother in the 5th grade. Her mother who is a daily wage worker is the sole breadwinner of her family.
Mrudula completed her 10th standard in 2019 and graduated from the 12th standard in 2021 with an A+ in Malayalam. She was trained by IDIA Kerala Chapter in association with District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) of Wayanad. The mentors from the IDIA chapter provided her with study materials, mock papers, and organised doubt clearance sessions. The efforts bore fruit when she secured rank 1 in the ST- Kerala category under CLAT and was offered a seat at NUALS, Kochi.
When Mrudula was in school, a few senior students attended a session in Kalpetta, Wayanad, on career opportunities. They returned and told Mrudula and her friends that law is a good profession to take up since she can use her skills to do good for society and for the upliftment of tribes in Wayanad. It inspired her to prepare for CLAT and she hopes to practice as a lawyer in her community someday.
Mrudula also attributes her success to the inspiration she got from Radhika, an IDIA Scholar at NUALS, Kochi, who was the first to make it into a National Law University from the Kattunayakan tribe.
Mrudula is passionate about promoting justice and fairness for all and cites this as one of her major reasons for taking up law. She aims to empower her community and ensure representation for tribal communities in the legal profession as well as in broader public discourse. She takes a keen interest in giving back to her society.
In her free time, Mrudula likes to play sports, especially athletics.
