Gujarat National Law University

Dr. K Parameswaran is the Associate Professor of Law & Former Dean of Academics at Gujarat National Law University, Gujarat. He pioneered Spirituality in Law & Ethics as Skills for Legal Profession and is a Governing Board Member of Auroville Foundation, MHRD, Govt. of India, UNESCO, & World Commission on Environmental Law & International Consortium for Law & Religion. Read here what he has to say in his interview.

What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

“Education is the source of human development”

Education gives the joy of self-discovery through experience in one’s self. This self-discovery through experience (teaching, research, etc.) contributes to transforming human and social life. Thus, education is the raison d’etre of human life on this planet where every sincere teacher loves this adventurous connection. Most importantly, legal education gives an immense contribution to all other kinds of education, as legal knowledge is a 360-degree view of life capable of giving overall benefits to social existence. 

What is your philosophy of leadership? How would you describe your leadership style?

“My philosophy of leadership is integral-leadership”

The Integral Leadership is based on a spiritual foundation or higher values of life. It means individual, and collective developments go together. From my experience, IL's key elements are; voluntary autonomy and accountability, empowerment and shared values, aspiration, and excellence. If you observe closely, these elements blend top-down and bottom-up models in which self-discovery and experience of knowledge come as two-way processes. IL touches upon all aspects of human personality; mind, emotion, sense and body, and the inner self and higher spirit with social-quotient. This style brings peace, progress, and perfection to a workspace where professional and organizational life becomes magnetic to collaborative development. Current advancements in psychology, sociology, management, evolutionary sciences, etc., point out to this IL though indirectly or unknowingly. In fact, IL is the key to open the sense of equality, spirit of liberty, harmony of fraternity and finally the wellbeing of justice which Indian Constitution guarantees.

Also, I believe everyone has the capacity to become a leader. When knowledge and experience combine, one appreciates automatically all elements of IL (voluntary autonomy and accountability, empowerment and shared values, aspiration and excellence).

What do you think your roles and responsibilities to the University and the students are?

“A guided enlightenment to trace the path is pivotal”

I have five major roles and responsibilities for University and Students. 1) creation of knowledge, 2) sharing of knowledge, 3) skills-training for applied-knowledge. These three come from teaching, research, publications, and capacity-building programs, etc. All know these three. In my philosophy and practice of education, I have taken to two more important roles and responsibilities for a wholesome life and universal humanity.

To put it simply, educational systems at present are largely, mental in kind (analytical/cognitive). Hence, construction, distribution & training of knowledge is reason and logic-oriented. Reason and logic are useful for an intellectual understanding of knowledge. But, they become insufficient while applying knowledge in social spaces where heterogeneity and diversity exist. Thus, in the framework of law and justice, you need case-wise interpretation of issues and differentiated application with context. Not just one thumb-rule presuming all issues and people are one and same. This is the reason for lack of true or complete justice and wellbeing through equality, liberty and fraternity. True development for children through education is individual-flowering in the garden of collective flourishing. Thus, you need inter-relational values like empathy, freedom, unity, sharing, etc. The cognitive mind understands inter-relational values using reason and logic. But, you need the opening up of the heart of love, the spirit of compassion, and a sense of unity and harmony. These roles and responsibilities are gradually getting recognized now. 

So, connect the mind and heart in education, as the connection brings true purpose to the teacher's role and responsibility. And the best way to do this is to practice these individually and become an example. 

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What do you think should be the University’s top priority over the next 10 years?

“Every university should become a role-model by bringing unique aspects”

The top priority is identifying unique factors suitable for students, teachers, and staff and bringing excellence in them. Uniqueness is not something exclusive but ‘the exceptional.’ We must cherish the ‘exceptional,’ which brings diversity. Also, excellence is an evolving process as a ‘human’ in a learning environment is not just a growth of an automaton. Thus, the priority should be to nurture uniqueness and bring excellence. Every teacher and student has to identify. It is the aim and outcome of education. This priority is everlasting for more than ten years. These ideas should enter our social discussions to take it further.

How do you strategize about the key programs and plans for the marketing and administration of your University?

“I feel the best strategy is to supply the demands”

The current demand is to acquire deeper knowledge that integrates issues and brings wellbeing to both individuals and collectives. It is the greatest challenge world over. Originality, profundity, rigour and utility are the current framework in academic excellence. This integration and wellbeing are subtler processes and hence, cannot be easily passed as ‘goods’ no matter whether you give it free or cost it high. I prefer affordable access without any stress on entry and exit to education. Also, this deeper knowledge of integration, wellbeing, individual and collective development are essentially matters of self-motivation, experiment and guidance. So, every teacher has to find out their inner call in the respective subject.

What do you see as Gujarat National Law University’s greatest strengths?

“Our people forms the backbone of the institution”

There are a plethora of factors that add up to the strength of the campus. The beauty of the campus, vast area, vibrant culture, extensive library resources, modern facilities etc. are some factors. And a band of faculty members, staff and research cadres who are exceptionally youthful, dynamic, committed and ready to grow as one family. Our leadership from Professor Dr V.S. Mani, Professor Dr Bimal. N. Patel, who are our former Vice-Chancellors and, currently, Professor Dr S. Shanthakumar as our Vice-Chancellor are our true inspiration and source of guidance for all of us. 

What are some of the biggest challenges you see, both for higher education in general and for Gujarat National Law University specifically?

“It is essential to combine heart and brain together with the technological advances”

The challenges for higher education in general and GNLU specifically is common, which is the ongoing concern of education itself. Education world over at present is all about knowing that is digitally reduced to information chips and bits. As I said before, in legal education, inter-relational values like empathy, freedom, unity, sharing etc., are to be nurtured in addition to a cognitive mind that uses logic and reason as tools of knowledge. 

The joy of self-discovery and experience of knowledge should shine over and above the lustre of tetravalent metalloids of fossilised files. With AI coming big way in the field of education, teachers around the world have to combine information with inspiration, intelligence with innovation, and de-construction with re-construction of knowledge. If information and intelligence alone is teaching, AI and ML will be the greatest teachers without any need for human beings as teachers. So, teachers in general and law teachers in specific, need to combine mind with heart, individual with the collective, intelligence with innovation. It is the only way out to solve painful problems that beset humanity and fulfil Indian Constitutional guarantees of equality, liberty and fraternity. 

Any suggestions you would like to give to the current youth and the aspiring students?

“Knowledge in the life of education goes with the power of concentration”

The youth should remember four major powers of life which are a must for law students, legal knowledge and justice. They are universal, indispensable too. 1) peace, 2) strength, 3) love and 4) action. Remember, it is in the peace of tranquil mind true knowledge dawns. It is in the strength of inner emotion, true power transcends all weaknesses, in the heart of love flames the genuine goodwill and meaning of life. Finally, in the action of life, real transformation comes for both individual and collective. When you develop a good cognitive mind, a loving heart, multidimensionality to skills and joyful health to the body, we can experience it. You have to start somewhere, at someplace and gradually connect with the other. 

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How do you tend to establish a healthy relation and environment in your university?

“Self-awareness and understanding or inter-relational aspects is the key for healthy relations”

In my experience of life, there are two things that you need. One should understand one’s self first, Self-awareness. Second, this understanding of one’s self contributes to an inter-relational understanding with others, Collective and Universal awareness. I teach and train this in law, spiritual values and ethics through what I call the intra-personality and inter-personality dimensions. You can see the light of psychology animating legal knowledge and values of spirituality, embracing society in these two dimensions. My typical work in the university is to research these, share them as inspiring knowledge with students, faculty members and everyone around with utmost positivity and peace daily.