My vigils over the Dayals’ were interrupted by library trips, where I was stuck researching the upcoming debate topic.
But they relented when talk at Indian parties centered on the clarity of purpose that debate offered—you have one job, and it is not to tell the truth about the fossil fuel crisis.
She was rumored to be among Harvard’s top choices for debate recruits the next year and did not need a partner so much as a “tool” —someone to do as she demanded amid the high heat of a tournament’s elimination rounds.
I found myself wandering the library, seeking higher-order material, hopes of becoming the kind of competitor who opted for philosophical approach over a wonky one.
were populated by enviably nonchalant potheads from alternative private schools, some of whom would grow into Harvard humanities professors.
“I—I was reading about how sometimes policy making is the wrong thing to do because we have to, like, address the philosophy? Erm, ontology.
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