A piercing silence marked my entry into the world. I was born in rural South India, where the birth of boys is celebrated with a loud, cheery bonfire and the birth of girls is marked by a reticent quietude. So, when I was born, my parents were subject to piteous apologies as I was to gendered scrutiny. Though I did not receive the grand welcome gifted to my male cousins, I, with some humor, compromised. Fourteen years later, I was...

The faces of Rwandan Genocide victims hung in the U.S Holocaust Museum as observers dedicated a mere second per photo. Looking at the pictures , I thought of how the Berlin Conference of 1860, which dissected Africa into colonial possessions, shaped this museum hall. History had never been a light-hearted subject, but, to me, it always supplied a clear lens with which to view the world. The Rohingya Genocide in Myanmar today bares many similarities to the historical Rwandan Genocide. As...

At the College of Arts and Sciences, I plan to take advantage of the interdepartmental nature of Penn. By taking courses in developmental policy, sanitation technology, microfinance, and beyond, I can better understand how to improve life in South Asia by developing practical solutions to fundamental problems of living conditions, possibly forming an NGO to implement structural changes with cultural considerations. I have first-hand experience rallying for a toilet in Kadapa District, India. Simply put, it didn’t seem like...

When I went to my village in India this summer, I saw my cousins skipping to school as minority-caste children washed their dishes and clothes. I turned on the T.V and saw USAID officials in India insisting that progress was in close sight for minorities. ‘Where?’ I thought at the ironic sight of inequality and power. The rising price of bread in Egypt is written off as civil tension and Ghana’s water is privatized to “placate” citizens’ mistrust...

At Yale, I will build a framework of philosophy and knowledge in international politics to influence progressive policy. By joining Yale’s Political Union, I will participate in judicial, political, and economic discussions with many who create policy today as I inquire my theories. Through the MacMillan Center for International Studies, I will explore developmental policy and conduct research into such topics as child marriage in South Asia and rural infrastructure policy in Central Africa. I wish to explore history�...

What inspires you?: How the diversity of L.A street food- tacos to dosas- echoes the Persian, Korean, Indian, and Spanish cultural influences of the city, reminding me to seek the stories behind everyday phenomenon. What person, past or present, would you invite to speak? What question would you ask?:I'd inquire State Chancellor Aung San Suu Kyi about whether politically active militaries are an asset or an impediment to democratic government and whether that holds true in her country,...

“A minority community should earn the goodwill of the majority to live a good life,” stated Ram Madhav, National General Secretary of India’s BJP party. Watching the head to head debates at the Oxford Union, I immediately wondered why the lives of religious minorities should rest on the idiosyncratic poll of their neighbors. Should a democratic constitution not secure those protections as a right to all? As Government explores itself, develops with time, people, and circumstance, it resembles the...

Samantha Power, in A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, asks, “Why do American leaders who vow ‘Never Again’ fail at genocide prevention?” It is an impregnable truism that the concept of “Never Again” is the focal point of genocide prevention. Yet, it is hard for me to reconcile the West’s convenient morality in its arms deals with Saudi Arabia, wreaking havoc on the fragility of Yemen. The issue of genocide-prevention resonates on a deeply personal...

“Never Again”. A phrase reflecting the promise of international cooperation in the guardianship of human rights still stands, seventy years after the Genocide Convention of WWII, a work in progress. As Myanmar persecutes the Rohingya, over 900,000 refugees have fled their homes for sanctuary in Bangladesh. Meanwhile 22 million Yemenis face cholera epidemics and starvation as Saudi and UAE forces destroy the fragile infrastructure of one of the poorest nations in the region and the Syrian Civil War has displaced millions of...