Jess and Leslie were childhood friends who fell deeply in love when they were eleven. Their relationship defined much of Jess’s life and sense of purpose. When they were nineteen, Leslie died tragically.

'Contra-dating' is a modern dating trend which involves dating outside one's usual 'type'. It invites singles to expand their horizons by altering profiles or real- life dating choices to connect with people they wouldn't normally consider.

Greenwashing is when a company or organization promotes itself as

more environmentally friendly than it is, often through marketing or branding, in order to attract consumers who prioritize sustainability.

Climate engineering is the intentional large-scale intervention in the Earth's climate system to counter climate change. It includes techniques to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and technologies to rapidly cool the Earth by reflecting solar energy back to space.

Gifted education programs are specialized curriculums tailored to meet the needs of young students identified as gifted or talented. These programs feature a more rigorous and accelerated curriculum, allowing students to progress at a faster pace and engage with advanced material.

Montessori-education is a form of primary (age 4-12) and secondary (13-18) education which centres around the intrinsic motivation of the child. Children are taught to work independently. In principle, they choose their own work, the level of their work and how much time they will spend on it. The teacher has the role of supervisor and can stimulate and steer the children. The children mainly work in smaller groups or independently. Montessori classes always consist of three year groups mixed together. Regular education entails that the entire class gets taught the same subject, at the same level at the same time and does the same exercises. Regular classes have only one year group

In recent years, debating has seen 'professional institutions' where mentors and coaches mentor (often young secondary school children) in debating. These institutions have tie-ups with schools and often employ collegiate debaters to provide mentorship services.
For the purpose of this debate, professionalization refers to the surge in these professional institutions cropping up but also on a more granular level, having sepcific individuals (Tab directors, CAs, etc.) with specific (paid) 'jobs' during debating tournaments. 

For the purpose of this debate, Indian debaters are often told (and see) the mark of a good debater is a majors break (ABP, UADC, WUDC, Australs). As a consequence of this narrative, debaters often enter competitive debating as a space and toil and work towards a majors break in their 3rd/4th year.
However, access to these majors often depends on the soc you're in, financial capacity (a lot of these majors happen abroad), and other external factors. This shift happened during/post COVID when people were able to access tournaments outside of India. 

A chosen family, or found family, is a group of people who choose to support, show up and love each other despite having no biological ties. A chosen family may or may not be comprised of people similar to you. Having a chosen family does not mean having to cut off ties with your biological family but it is often the case as queer individuals are often ostracized due to their identity by their immediate family and friends.

For the purposes of this debate, Rohit is an out queer individual living in a metropolitan city in India. Rohit has recently graduated and although he has access to relatively accepting social circles and queer community spaces, legal recognition and broader social acceptance of queer relationships remain limited. Rohit has never been in a romantic relationship before. 

In recent decades, several acclaimed novels centred around trauma and suffering have gained international recognition , such as Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun,  Coco Mellors' Blue Sisters, A Little Life, etc. These narratives often explore how individuals and communities navigate grief, abuse, war, loss, and intergenerational wounds. 

Climate fiction (cli-fi) is a genre of fiction that explores climate change, ecological crises and their social, political and human consequences through imagined narratives. (eg. The Ministry for the Future, The Water Knife, Parable of the Sower etc.) Cli-fi is often dominated by dystopian narratives that portray climate change through catastrophic futures, ecological collapse, and the breakdown of human societies. for example - writers in Africa are shaping cli-fi around local experiences, making the distant crisis ‘immediate’ and ‘visceral’ to readers.

There exists a technology, Breta, which can rate

every interaction from one to five stars

(imagine it similar to how your uber ratings

work). This means people compete for status

through courtesy, performance, and constant

self-monitoring.

Ratings are given by ordinary users, not a

central authority, and there is no 'formal'

'punishment' for rating someone low or high.

The effects come entirely from how scores gate

access as your score isn’t just social - it also

determines which neighbourhoods you can rent in,

which jobs you can get, which flights you can

board, and how you’re treated by everyone around

you Low scorers are effectively ostracized in

society.