Ratna writes

Last January , I had the opportunity to moderate a panel at the annual  Harvard US-India Initiative  conference about the Indian juvenile justice system and the Juvenile Justice Act of 2009. The panel featured some human rights rockstars, including Harvard Law School Professor Jacqueline Bhabha and the Founder and Director of Aangan India, Ms. Suparna Gupta. Our conversation last winter went by way too quickly, and I've since been eager to pick both of their brains further about this topic near and dear to my heart. Having just touched down in India last week, I was lucky enough to be able to meet with  Suparna Gupta  to learn more about  Aangan  and their systemic approach to child protection. A number of themes stood out to me in our conversation, particularly as areas that we at Living Cities are trying to figure out in the context of job creation in U.S. cities. Connections across sectors and disciplines whirred through my mind as Suparna compared...

I realize that I have owed you all an update for a while, as I've recently embarked into a phase of my life that even thinking about has made me very anxious for, for a very long time now. Since before college began, I was afraid of leaving it. There was something there about losing "the best four years of your life!" and there was something there about saying goodbye to youth. The update I owe is that this new stage of life couldn't be better designed for what I genuinely love: work that deeply interests me and contributes to the value I want to add to the world, a balanced lifestyle with space for wellness and reflection, time with friends and loved ones, and white space to explore and create and wonder. Many a tortured moment could have been avoided had I known what awaited me in New York post graduation! Life is silly and pretty these days. I have my own writing desk. And bed. And bedside lamp. And desk lamp. And futon. And armchair (the love of my life). The...

Many of you may be wondering where I'm headed next, now that this happened: Graduation was a blur, but a very beautiful one that filled me with a lot of gratitude. It was especially special to have my Nani and Nanaji here from India for the special day, and campus was appropriately celebratory and sentimental for the last few weeks we were there. I spent a satisfying and relaxing chunk of time after graduation at home in Virginia, decompressing, going on lots of runs, and gearing up for my next phase! I was lucky to be able to see many people who have been instrumental in Priya's and my success and happiness while at home. I'm now in New York, living in Union Square with my good friend Bianca and commuting to Bryant Park daily, for a summer internship with Living Cities, a non-profit that works on urban economic development here in the United States. I'm a part of the Collective Impact team, who promote solutions that harness the power of both the public ...

I've been nostalgic about this place since before I got here. One of my friends  passed away within a week of graduating from Yale in 2011, and it was enough to send post-gap-year me into this hyperactive appreciative mode from the moment I set foot on Harvard's campus. So the time hasn't flown -- I've watched it pass at a steady speed, for the most part. But these past few weeks have flown by. (Is it currently the week that started with Yardfest? Is senior week coming up after just two more of these short weeks?) Reading week is weird in particular. Suspended between the end of classes ending and the start of finals that don't really matter, we float through the week of The Formals and hear the final clubs play the same songs over and over starting around the time we wake up at noon most days.  I've been sitting here trying to structure the time so I can savor the time, but end up paralyzed and procrastinating. I don't think there's a way to m...

It's my last semester of college and I couldn't be more excited. Here's one last chance to dwell in this web of 18-to-22-year-olds with a lot of ideas and a lot of interests and a lot of stress, all contained in our bubble of Cantabrigian brick with 70 different food options served to us at every meal and the gym and laundry right around the corner. I'm especially psyched because I'm finally  studying the things that I set out to study when I chose this monster of a major (Economics). I'm also taking my last college Latin class (and it happens to be on one of my top two favorite authors), after a 12-year career as a student of the Classics! Below are my courses, taught by a cast of all-star super engaging professors. Environmental Economics  | Provides a survey, from the perspective of economics, of environmental and natural resource policy. Combines lectures on conceptual and methodological topics with examinations of public policy issues. ...

I've made it a point since college started to write at least at the beginning and end of each semester, and after last semester I wasn't being negligent...senior fall was just really hard . Friends, classes, and extracurriculars all lined up in a way that could have made for a great time, but something caught up to me and I found myself stressed, overworked, and overwhelmed most days...I guess it had to happen eventually! Anyway, I've been waiting until the very last minute to write this  post because I don't think my winter break could have been any more rejuvenating, and I've been trying to stretchhh the end of it out as long as possible. But as I return to campus tomorrow for the start of my last semester of college (!!), I just wanted to recount what a perfect vacation this has been, especially the two-week trip to India I got to take at the end and now find myself very jet-lagged from. Basically, I know when my mind needs to take a complete break and do ab...

My dear friends, I wanted to thank you all for making my birthday so special. You have no idea how much it means to me! This semester has been a whirlwind of crazy and confusing so far, so much so that some of you have only seen me in passing this year, zoning out over work in the dining hall. But there is SO much to celebrate about this year, and it meant a lot to celebrate with all of you in one place yesterday. I have a box called my Happy Box that I open up on rainy days sometimes, full of notes and letters I've collected over the years from friends, family, teachers, employers, etc. that in some way remind me who I am, outside of my outside. The book of letters you all put together for me is like a little Happy Book in itself, and I can't express how much I needed your words last night. My biggest fear on birthdays past, and the reason I annually (since birth) cry the day before, is that I feel like I won’t get that “birthday feeling” -- that childhood doted-up...