On Journalism
Every Saturday, everything stopped in our house in Queens, New York. At that time we had no cable, and our only window to the world was thirty minutes of BBC World News on PBS station WNET — for my parents, it was also their only connection to news from back home. That was where I first saw Mishal Husain — her clarity, poise, and ability to ask difficult questions with respect and precision. For me, as a child of immigrants, it meant the world to see someone who looked like me sit at that anchor desk with such authority.
My parents carried the familiar immigrant story: long hours, everything sacrificed so their children could climb the socioeconomic ladder they never had a chance to. In families like mine, becoming a doctor or engineer was a rite of passage towards living the actual American dream. Journalism, as much as I dreamed of it, was never considered a viable career path.
But my instincts kept pulling me toward it. I enjoy finding patterns in anomalies. I'm drawn to the detail that doesn't quite fit, the story that at first seems small but reveals something larger underneath. My career has been punctuated by doubt — doubting, being curious, asking, finding, and sometimes changing my mind. That restlessness is what led me here.
I believe reporting provides hope for change, through listening — through what Jane Goodall once described as starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right. I've learned that the most important thing a journalist can do in those moments is not speak — just listen, carefully, until the person across from you feels understood enough to say what they actually came to say.
That conviction deepened during my global health work, conducting research with women and children in marginalized, low-resource settings. Yet when I returned to the United States, what stayed with me was how much remained undocumented — the everyday struggles, the complexity of their realities. The world should know those stories. I believe I can help document them.
I'm interested in how systems function: how policy, capital, infrastructure, and technology shape who receives care — and who does not. That interest led me to London, where I'm currently pursuing my NCTJ qualification. I've published my first investigation, "I Was Just Trying to Survive the Day: The Human Cost of NHS Waiting Lists," for South West Londoner. The piece examined how data, policy, and lived experience intersect — revealing how delayed care disproportionately affects women, minorities, and patients in deprived areas.
Through that reporting, I finally understood what people mean when they say, "It's a systemic problem." I'd heard the phrase for years — on the news, in classrooms, in research papers — but it always felt abstract. Then I interviewed a patient in pain, still unable to see a physician while stuck on the waiting list. I asked the NHS why. Doctors confirmed it wasn't an isolated case. The data supported their stories. It all came together.
For the first time, I could see how those threads connect: the lived experience, the institutional response, and the structural failures underneath. That's what I was able to do for Mr. Jeyaprasad — say: you are not alone, this is real, we hear you, we see you, and here are the facts supporting it.
In my global health work, I've had to bring together government officials, community leaders, and the people most affected by policy decisions. That experience taught me how to translate complexity into reporting that someone without domain expertise can understand — whether the subject is climate change, health, or the systems that determine who is seen and who is overlooked.
At the Vox Media Writers Workshop with Chief Editor Sean Hollister, I began developing Clean Thrust: Propelling Aviation Forward — an investigative docuseries exploring how Silicon Valley has become a proving ground for the future of flight. The series follows engineers, innovators, and regulators working to decarbonise aviation through artificial intelligence, sustainable fuels, and next-generation aircraft design.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg believed you should fight for the things you care about — but do it in a way that will lead others to join you. That philosophy guides how I approach reporting. I want to shine light on systemic inequities and institutional failures — but also highlight the real technological advances and policy solutions that offer credible paths forward. I believe journalism, done carefully, can hold systems accountable while still leaving room for hope.