The Odyssey

Established in 1998, the National Law Institute University, Bhopal has been far more than
an educational institution. Its trees whisper tales of past batches, and its hostel rooms have
its saga permanently etched into its various surfaces. However, what is interesting is that
this little University located on Kerwa Dam Road, somehow mimicked the workings of
Ancient Greek Society. Hence, many of the problems that plague it could be seen through a
lens of mythology. Ancient Greek society was formed of a social structure, almost
hierarchical in nature. That is perhaps one of the very first introductions to the social
structure of NLIU that any aspirant is informed of. Now, in this hierarchical structure
emerges tiny customs and traditions, little ways of slowly integrating yourself into the never-
ending ode to circular infrastructure. Interestingly, early Greek natives considered the Circle
to be a symbol of divine symmetry and balance in nature.[1]

Another stark issue that has plagued NLIU, unfortunately, is an almost frightening degree of
groupism that can be seen across batches. Seen from a sociological perspective, it is
extremely interesting to see the great variety of personalities in this University. However, if
you believe that all these groups live together in peace and harmony, you are sorely
mistaken.

Much like the Greek polity where even after being the founders of democracy, violence was
awfully common.[2] Of course, perhaps in our modern society, vengeance by retaliation
may just lead you to end up in jail. Interestingly, that has not stopped many.
Thus, we come to the tale of the two protagonists* of this story. (For confidential purposes,
we will be calling them “Goscinny” and “Uderzo”). The friendship that existed between these
two from their very first year was legendary. They often roamed the hallowed halls of
Academic Block-I gossiping about the various ensemble decisions that the vast population
of NLIU made that morning. Goscinny and Uderzo were both incredibly talented and
enthusiastic, often winning Moots, Mediations, and More, much to the dismay of their batch-
mates. Great is our admiration of the orator who speaks with fluency and discretion. Maybe
for that very reason, their oratory skills and sunny disposition won them an extremely large

1. "There is nothing strange in the circle being the origin of any and every marvel"
2. You can read more about this by clicking here [This is not even remotely relevant to the treasure hunt and is
only for the purposes of personal interest, go back to reading the problem]

*The protagonists may be assigned any gender.

group of pals. It was once said that the best interpreter of the law is custom, consequently,
the nomenclature has always been an important tradition of groupism in NLIU. Eventually,
this group was christened as “Super-15”, due to there being 15 members of all genders in
this group.

The first year passed and so did the honeymoon period. Eventually, Goscinny, Uderzo, and
the other 13 began focusing on competing endeavors. They realized that not everyone
wanted to moot with the other, and not everyone got along with the other. This seed of
discord turned into a garden of warfare. This group of friends discovered that their friendship
would not stand the test of competition, an interesting reminder of how laws are silent in
times of war.

Only if the fate of Brutus, Cassius, and Judas [3] served as a reminder of the perils of
betrayal, but one fine day, Uderzo decided to transgress from the biblically adorned path.
Uderzo decided that perhaps his/her/their friendship with Goscinny was coming in the way
of forming, at least what was in their opinion, the most “epic” moot team of all time. So
started the age-old Olympic sport of sabotage. Goscinny realized that he/she/they wanted
to spend some time focusing on honing their negotiation skills that year, something Uderzo
took personally since as per them, mediation and negotiation was a pointless activity that
was not worth wasting time on. Eventually, this led to a rift in their friendship from which
they could not recover.

In 430 BC, Athens faced a Plague that devastated its city and led to the breakdown of
Athenian society.[4] In 2020, the world faced a Pandemic from which perhaps it will never
recover. One of its many victims was the meticulously crafted social structure in NLIU.
Suddenly, a forced hierarchy devolved into a forced egalitarianism. However, unbeknownst
to all, what was more alarming was the intensification of previously existing hatred. Gone
were the days of mere gossip and smear campaigns. NLIU now saw an entirely new domain
of warfare which included all the characteristics of modern warfare. Now, the dutiful citizens
of NLIU started hurling more serious allegations against one another. It was once said that
when you have no basis for an argument, abuse the plaintiff. So did the students of NLIU by
engaging in war on all fronts. Whether this be about which cell may be better, or what the

3. “We were men once, though we’ve become trees.”

4. “Attention to health is life’s greatest hindrance”
exam timetable should look like, everything became contentious, and every dispute provided
a new battlefield.

Goscinny and Uderzo went from being fast friends to being sworn enemies. Now, as seniors
in college, they ended up being two of the most popular celebrities on campus. Achievements
came naturally to them (There was even a rumour that they were national level sports players
and were individually given offers to play the violin and oboe respectively in the New York
Philharmonic Orchestra.) The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you
desire to appear. Therefore, in the endeavour to be a little more like their idols, the great
mass of juniors flocked around these two illustrious personalities.

One fine day, Goscinny’s laptop stopped working. For some reason, the great NLIU gossip
network reported that Uderzo was spotted charging his/her/their phone on the same port
as Goscinny in the library. This was the last straw. Assaulting technological items was
surely a declaration of modern warfare. Goscinny confronted Uderzo at the Gol Chakkar, a
holy circle on the NLIU premises, and so began a war of words. Very soon, however, their
flock of juniors, turned this battle of wits into a literal battle. Almost 200 people were
spotted fighting one another in one of the most dramatic and violent events in the history of
the University. What was interesting, however, was that eventually Goscinny and Uderzo
both retired due to moral and physical injury: the fight continued. It is at this juncture that
the future stars of NLIU, Goscinny and Uderzo were encouraged to enlist the help of the
Alternative Dispute Resolution Cell to solve their issues through open communication and
dialogue. However, both parties have now realized that they don’t understand the true
extent of the dispute they started. What started out as a fight between groups has now
become a large variety of juniors, furthering a cause they do not even know fully about.
Both parties must both go around campus, to investigate and enquire about the events that
have transpired so they can resolve this issue once and for all.

Goscinny is the Calling Party and Uderzo is the Requesting Party.