Pushing boundaries

“As opposed to science, I was always inclined towards social sciences since school. After pursuing graduation in mass media with a specialization in journalism, I realized there is a huge gap between the concepts and on-ground applications of journalism, which was something I didn’t want to pursue further. Therefore I shifted my subject to International Relations for my Master’s. This change of gears was also influenced by my internship with Press Trust of India and a course called ‘niche journalism’ which I studied during Bachelor’s. Having backpacked through several regions of Southeast Asia before my post-graduation, I got keener to study contemporary geopolitical and socio-cultural relations prevalent in these places.

My PhD topic focused on foreign relations of South-east Asian countries with a special highlight on the South China Sea dispute, which has been going on for almost two decades now. My supervisor was quite supportive, which in subjects like this, is crucial but still due to a generation gap between us, there was an underlying difference of opinion on subject understandings; this difference in perception and subtle disagreements about certain issues and policies required patient handling from my side.

My work was also immensely dictated by the global events, which by nature are very dynamic, and strongly affected my research outcomes. For example — tomorrow we might…