The Sarin Memorial Legal Aid Foundation was set up when I was only 10 years old and at that young age the reason and motivation behind setting up the same was totally unknown to me. From the eyes of a 10 year old, the Foundation just organized functions that attracted important people and got a lot of news coverage in Chandigarh and the whole of North India. Only when I grew older did I realize what potential this foundation with noble objectives had and the stunningly brilliant “Step ahead of the rest” opportunity it could give a fresh and motivated legal mind, having just passed out of law school.

My five years in the Army Institute of Law, Mohali were full of interesting moot court competitions, whether it was an international competition or just an intra-college moot, all students would enjoy the experience of being “real-world” lawyers, preparing briefs, drafting plaints, written statements, etc. I too participated in a few international competitions but must confess I enjoyed the intra-college competitions the most. I felt it provided a very competitive atmosphere, especially since you knew your opponents and your judges and it was ever so challenging to change the opinion of persons you knew so well were going to pronounce a judgment dead against you!

Along with my love for law, I developed a love and passion for aviation. I can clearly recall being on a Boeing 747-200 back in the early 1990’s staring out of the window, watching the world pass by me at lightening speed, with a sense of excitement, amazement and awe. On an average flight, I would be awake for most of the journey, asking questions about the wings, flaps, slats, ailerons, turbulence, etc to my encyclopedia of a father, who would promptly have all the answers and would always be extremely patient with me.

This passion slowly grew into an obsession, and I could often be seen in the parking lot of the Army Institute of Law with my camera, pointing up in the sky photographing the various aircraft at cruise altitude flying over Chandigarh, and turning south west to carry on their journey across the Indian sub-continent. At this point, my 5 year stint at law school was nearing its end and the next big question was looming ahead – the question about whether or not I should persue my LL.M. degree straight after finishing law school or whether I should practice for a few years before deciding which stream  I should specialize in.

The question was answered easily when I heard about the Advanced Masters in Air and Space Law offered by Leiden University in the Netherlands. Not only would it give me a unique insight into the legal aspect of an area for which I had an endless passion but it would also place me bang in the centre of one of the most progressive and developed cultures of the world – Europe. My application for the Masters programme was accepted and before I knew it, I was on my way to a new city, in a new country – in short, a new world. Never before, have I felt so inspired and interested in academics as I did attending the classes offered by this degree. Every morning was refreshing to wake up to and the class discussions went on for hours and hours but seemed like a few minutes!

Going back to mooting, I have always wanted to start some international event under the “Sarin” banner, mainly for the fact that my grandfather, Mr. Harbans Lal Sarin was a self made man, being torn away from his life and career at the time of the partition of the country in 1947, to rising again to the very top through his sweat and hard work. I am often told that at the pinnacle of his career, over 80% of all Civil Revisions in the Punjab and Haryana High Court were handled by our office. All said and done, that was the past and it is a well known fact that those who dwell in the past never succeed; however, it is those who face the future who are the real success stories.

With those thoughts in mind, I can clearly remember walking in to the office of Prof. Dr. P. Mendes de Leon who is the Director of the International Institute of Air and Space Law, Leiden University and talking to him about starting something new, something international and something that tapped the vast potential the Indian market had to offer. An international moot court came to my mind and the instant I mentioned that, Dr. Leon jumped at the idea and within a matter of a few minutes, the Leiden Sarin International Air Law Moot Court Competition was born! Further meetings were held in Leiden with Mr. M.L. Sarin, Secretary General of the Sarin Memorial Legal Aid Foundation which saw the event gaining a more concrete structure.

The rest is all, as they say, history. One must have a dream and the will to follow up on that dream and of course, the right people to guide you and help you along the way. From that meeting one afternoon in Leiden to having 7 teams from different countries participating in the event has been a massive achievement for all of us. Special thanks must be given to the National Law University Delhi, The Dutch Embassy, New Delhi, the Dutch Ministry of Transport, the Delhi International Airport Limited and all the other friends and volunteers who have made this event possible. I will end with a quote by Swami Vivekananda which, one of the wisest men I know once shared with me: