Greetings Medium
I cannot believe that I am doing this, but it feels good to start something new. To all of you who have stumbled into this: Hello, thank you for coming.
I am Sudharsan R, just like every other engineering student out there in India. It is incredible how we engineers find love in anything and everything but engineering. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I found love in Engineering as well. Where this love is going to take me is another story. Be that as it may, I am happy to start afresh on Medium. I believe ‘Freedom of Expression’ is the single powerful tool of humankind. It is the key to several treasures that humanity can possess. It not only gives us power, but it empowers us to make the change. Hence, I am here, finally, taking a small step towards using that key.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Article 19 states, ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression’. Incidentally, even in the Indian Constitution, Freedom of Speech and Expression is mentioned in Article 19(1)(a) (something in the significance of the number ‘19’, maybe?). It is the foundation of any nation. It gives people the feeling of ownership, self-belief, and confidence.
I want to use this platform to write about things that intrigue me the most, mainly the law and policy. Each legislation or policy document that we see today has a backdrop and a story attached to it. We get tied up with the ‘politics’ of it and forget to analyze and question: What is this policy? What is its purpose? Why does it exist in the first place?
I love to read about policy. I am not a fantasy fiction person at all. I like to imagine myself as the person drafting any piece of legislation and ask myself these simple questions: Can there be one reason why this document should not exist? What is the significance of ‘this clause’ in the document? Lawyers are wired differently and hence think differently, way different to that of an engineer. This Engineer-Lawyer duo is quite a combination. It is like imagining Adam Gilchrist (The flamboyant — Engineer) and AB De Villiers (The Mr. 360 — Lawyer) take centre-stage. You can imagine how unique and delightful this partnership would have been.
Throughout this journey on Medium, I will try to take up some vital policy decisions, significant events in history, movements that have changed the world and analyze them. These are my personal views; I generally try to keep my biases aside and try to judge a document or an event based on the touchstone of principle and constitutionality. It may very well happen that the engineer in me might feel left out. I may then start writing about my research interests and my experiences in finding love in Civil Engineering. I hope this journey is fruitful both for you, the readers and for me.
~Iyer
