1. Between before and after C-triple S
I was unaware what the internship was primarily all about until Irfan's first
input session. One of my super smart friend, Shruti, seduced me into this
internship by revealing that 25 girls from Sophia had registered for the
internship! Thankfully, that didn't remain the major incentive till the very
end. I would like to point out certain macro changes; alterations in thought
process. And, certain micro changes; up-gradation/discovery of some specific
content. Macro and micro changes, both are important, in fact, they
complement each other. Just randomly speaking of inner game changes is
impractical, if it cannot be validated via some specific examples. For
instance, getting to know the history of RSS and Mr. Savarkar, forced us
not only to be more skeptical about the BJP led NDA government, but also
the entire political system of the county.
The internship enabled me to reaffirm acute importance of secularism for
the entire society, and more importantly, for the politicians we vote.
Secularism is an essential mindset, every citizen needs to uphold to. It
makes you feel more like a human. Values of secularism have certainly
motivated me to to indulge in an interfaith marriage! Gandhiji, I'm
following your path! Love, respect and be curious about all religions. Be
skeptical about them, criticize them and extract the gold embedded in all
of them. I believe, I'm personally heading towards atheism. This internship
has boosted that belief of mine. Sticking to one particular religion/faith is
not the most rational thing you could indulge in. Almost every religion was
created/lead by some human being, during a specific time period for a
specific purpose. Even religions that tag themselves as 'being progressive',
like the Baha'i faith, seem like a stationary concept, failing to evolve, hence
failing to accept the newly discovered dimensions of humanity. Even today,
terming same-sex marriage as unnatural or prohibiting per-marital sex
simply reinforces how uninformed, immature some religious leaders are.
Moreover, it seems that some prophets certainly did not attain any sort of
divine knowledge!
Internship lead to many debates at home. Some were intense! Al though,
my parents are not epitomes of secularism, they're way better than their
peers. We're preached 'Religions are a different ways to meet god' deep
down, in subconscious, many elderly don't agree with it.

2. A year ago, I got this idea that: if our ultimate goal is to be global citizens
and maintain peace worldwide, we cannot stick to ultra nationalism. It
hinders our interaction with the world. You cannot love the Chinese and
keep criticizing them as the 'dumpers.' Even, Saeed Akhtar Mirza,
emphasized on this in his input session, by quoting Samuel Johnson
“Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” It's good to be proud and
love your country, but that does not mean other countries suck or don't
have a rich, beautiful culture. Moreover, beauty is subjective. Now, I'm not
limiting myself to India, entire world is my playground!
Over the course of internship, we encountered some highly lob-sided
figures. I think their brain is that of computer, binary. It either rocks or
sucks. Baha'i is a progressive religion! Modi is a fascist! Jitendra Awhad is
a hero! I'm certainly no authority in religion or politics, but heavily
criticizing or praising anything is stupid. Baha'i is certainly not progressive.
Modi is certainly not a fascist, at least not any more than Ms. Indira
Gandhi or her father, Mr. Nehru. And, Jitendra Awhad is definitely not a
hero.