Written in fall 2023 for a Politics of Southeast Asia course during my graduate studies in International Affairs. The paper argues that the dominant US-China binary in Southeast Asian geopolitics obscures a third and historically rooted actor: India. The argument begins in antiquity — with the Indianization of Southeast Asian kingdoms — and ends in the present, where India's Act East Policy and partnership-based approach gives it leverage neither superpower can replicate. Leg

Indian cinema has attained prominence on the modern stage as a conduit of vibrant storytelling, song, and dance. It covers a variety in language, vast themes, and has emerged as a cultural phenomenon -- with recognition at platforms like the Oscars. However, beneath the glamour lies a complex tapestry of social issues; while Indian cinema followed similar trajectories as the West, the effects on perceptions of skin tone, languages, and the consolidation of stereotypes was exa

Note: Written in May 2021 for Making of the Modern World 15 — a media analysis assignment examining how English-language journalism covered the Indian farmer protests. I was a sophomore, watching the protests unfold from a distance, trying to separate the framing from the facts. The essay argues that most coverage was slanted, sensationalized, and not necessarily reflective of an actual human rights violation. Modi repealed the three farm laws in November 2021, six months aft

The essay proposes a concept I called "media justice" — reform that exists primarily as narrative and documentation rather than genuine structural change — and uses the British Raj's intervention in Indian social life as its case study. Reading it now, the argument feels more urgent, not less. The question I close with — how many of today's "legitimate" actions are simply rewriting culture from a lens of superiority — is one I'm still sitting with.