Exactly thirty years ago, I spent nearly 10 days at Delhi’s notorious Tihar jail (from 11 to 20 May 1983) for the first and, till now, only time in my life. With me were more than 600 young men and women, many of whom are today leaders across the globe including Ambassadors, professors, members of parliament, scientists, and editors. For me the Tihar experience was transformational. My daughter’s school in Melbourne advertises itself to current and potential students with a pithy slogan: “I found my place in the Methodist Ladies College.” Thirty years later, I can rightfully say: I found my place in Tihar jail. Here is the story. I was twenty and had been admitted to New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University to do a Masters course in International Studies. Like hundreds of others, JNU was our first exposure to the real India. JNU had a policy of affirmative action that allowed students from all over India to be admitted, especially those who were socially or economically challenged. But even those like me, who came from relatively affluent backgrounds, had better chance of getting in because I came from Srinagar, cocooned in the Kashmir valley, and not from a public school in an urban metropolis.