Krystle Kaul, Washington Leadership Program (WLP) Class of 2004, interned with Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA) and visited India under the same program. Kaul, 20, is a junior at American University majoring in International Relations and Women in Politics.

Youths, Politics, Indians –– these are three terms that are generally not found together. To be a young Indian in politics, one needs three essential qualities –– persistence, fearlessness and a great deal of ambition. The fact that Indians compose the wealthiest minority group in the United States and yet receive very little political representation is disappointing.

This nation needs more minorities in politics because America is a nation founded by immigrants and, therefore, all immigrant groups deserve equal representation. The main obstacle facing second generation Indians is that they do not receive much encouragement to enter the field of politics. Thanks to few organizations like IACPA (Indian American Center for Political Awareness), young Indians receive the exposure and encouragement that they need such as the opportunity to intern in a Congressional office. This type of internship provides them the chance to explore the world of politics, and how Congress functions on a day to day basis. It is also made possible with donors such as News India-Times providing the financial means for organizations such as IACPA to exist. Hopefully the future Congress will be more colorful and diverse than what exists currently.

It is truly incredible that back in the 1950s, a Sikh man, Dilip Singh Saund, was able to become a Congressman in the U.S. Yet, in today’s society, as modernized as it is, there is such a lack of South Asian representatives on Capitol Hill. Indian youths need to first realize that voting is essential and necessary for all ethnic groups. The first step is to encourage young Indians to vote, and then helping them advance into the field of politics. Apathy is the biggest problem with this second generation, and needs to be confronted immediately. Of course, it is not fair to generalize amongst all young Indian Americans because there are several young Indians passionate about politics and that do vote, but more youths should take an interest in this nation’s government. Especially young Indian women are discouraged from entering the field of politics by several traditional Indian families. They face two challenges –– first that they are a minority and second that they are female. However, this man’s world needs to change because women represent half of the world’s population, and yet in the U.S., women compose less than 14 percent of Congress. The belief that women are inferior leaders is a misconception because natural born leaders exist in all ethnic groups and in both genders. However, this is a separate struggle that needs to be addressed as well.

This past summer, I was fortunate to get a flavor of life on Capitol Hill. Attending meetings such as the Transition of Sovereignty to Iraq with Paul Wolfowitz and General Meyers, was remarkable and extremely informative. I also learned the entire process of how constituent mail works, and the relationship between Congress members and their constituents. In addition, partaking in debates with 14 ambitious Indian American students from around the country was thought-provoking. We sat in a conference room for one week prior to the internship and one week following the internship.

These discussions gave me a new perspective on what it means to be an Indian American and what are pertinent Indian American issues. However, the degree to which we disagreed surprised me because we were a relatively homogenous group. It proved how diverse opinions can be even within ethnic groups. However, toward the end of the internship, we were able to come to a consensus more or less of what are the key issues that Indian Americans face today. I was also surprised to see how I held such strong opinions about topics that I had never thought about prior to this summer such as what term I prefer to be referred to as –– South Asian? Indian American? Indian? It was promising to see young Indians so passionate about politics and international relations.