If you grew up in India like I did, you most likely have had to decide upon Arts/Commerce/Science as a stream to specialize in right after your 10thgrade convocation. As a young student, I remember thinking that this system made no sense. By restricting my education to a specific set of subjects, how was I to prepare myself for the real world? I wanted to know how to file taxes and maintain my balance sheets, but I also wished to learn about the science behind climate change and how the world works, and I certainly wanted to understand the Politics of human beings and the relations between nations. What I wanted was a Liberal Arts education, an inter-disciplinary set of courses in politics, economics, history, physical and life sciences, moral philosophy, and literature.
Four years later, I don’t claim to be all-wise, and I really only learnt to file taxes this year, but I do believe that my education has prepared me to think critically. From my position as a citizen of India and as an international student, I will be presenting my personal opinion on current affairs happening around the world. I’m not a journalist and I’m no political scientist, but I find myself continuously playing catch-up on emerging problems and issues, but losing sight of why it matters that I stay informed.
I hope that this column allows you to frame your own ideas and perspectives. I’ll try my best to support my opinions with hard facts and solid research, but I want to be able to hear your thoughts so I can challenge my own beliefs as well. Hope you follow along. Let’s get started.
