How I got into nuclear security issues and came to Fletcher

A common question Fletcher students like to ask each other is, "What are you studying here in grad school?" But the followup question, and the one which always intrigues us more, is, "What was your path that led you here?"

When I'm asked this question, I usually launch into a 10-minute monologue on how my mom is from Pakistan and my dad is from India, and how some random kid's comment when I was in high school on the perceived polarity of their marriage opened my eyes to Indo-Pakistani issues, and how both countries have nuclear weapons, and how further tensions between them could increase the temptation to use those nuclear weapons, and how we would all be in a heap of trouble if that breakout doomsday scenario ever were to occur.

All of this is true, and they certainly do form an integral part of my story, of my path, that has led me to study nuclear security issues at Fletcher.

But everyone has a tipping point -- the proverbial "last straw" that just ... does it for them. For some it's a slow but eventual realization of things. For others it's a snap moment, or some kind of event that turns their world upside down and/or puts things into crystal-clear perspective. I belong to the latter group.

My last straw? The Bombay attacks of 26 November, 2008. I'll never forget it: I was at work (I used to work in private sector IT consulting in those days) and saw it on CNN in our office lobby.

That moment turned my world upside down -- and opened my eyes to the larger picture: five recognized nuclear weapons states, three to four non-recognized nuclear weapons states, and a slew of countries that have or are developing nuclear energy capabilities and may want to go military one day.

That's when I knew that if I wanted to one day bring my own children into this world and provide an environment for them that was relatively safe and free from the constant threat of annihilation and fire raining down from the heavens, I needed to get into this field of study. I needed to understand why we still have these weapons, even two decades after the end of the Cold War, and what complexities keep them so firmly in the defense strategies and minds of numerous countries.

So I applied and was accepted to Fletcher.

Just today, the only surviving attacker from the Bombay attacks was convicted by an Indian court and sentenced to either life in prison or the death penalty (final sentence forthcoming).

I'd like to think that this would generate some sort of collective sigh of relief on both sides of the India-Pakistan divide, and perhaps it might (though most likely it won't). But what this news means for me is that the real fight -- not over Kashmir, not over the Hindu-Muslim schism, not over cultural or political issues on the subcontinent -- is a long way from being over. Nuclear weapons are still there. The option to one day use them is still on the table, now matter how politically unfathomable it might be.

One day, I'd like to go back to Bombay and trace the entire event. Just to remind myself of that moment in November 2008 when I suddenly and completely knew what I wanted to do.