Akshay Thakre
Introspective by nature, laid back in attitude and passionate about making a difference, that’s Akshay in a nutshell. A Business Graduate from Symbiosis International University with specialization in Marketing. He has been a Gandhi Fellow with KEF at Surat right after graduating. He’s also been a writer for Youth Ki Awaaz, an award winning online mouthpiece for the youth. In his free time he loves cycling on his Trek 3700, hiking, travelling, reading and writing. He’s currently pursuing his LL.B from Nagpur University and hopes to be a successful litigator in the future.
Anshu Kumari
Anshu is currently doing her honours in Economics from Miranda House, University of Delhi. She is passionate about economics and her future ambition belongs to that field. Socioeconomic issues, along with recent developments and academic literature on them constitute her area of interest. In her spare time after studies, she mostly likes to read on these issues. At present, she is an intern at Centre for Civil Society.
Archit Jain
Archit has just finished his first year at St Stephen’s College, where he is studying economics. He loves thinking rationally and mathematically as much as he likes exploring more creative means of conveying ideas, having experimented with poetry, oil painting and theatre in the past. During a brief stint at HarperCollins Publishers last year, he screened fiction writing by upcoming authors on behalf of the editorial team. At CCS, he is keen on examining the welfare effects of conditional cash transfers and hopes to come up with a scheme to implement these in India. His research interests also include the myriad of failed public health insurance programs in India, which he wishes to study to determine the optimal role of the government in the country’s health sector. Longer term, he plans to pursue a graduate degree in financial economics and work either as a professional macroeconomist or in a finance-related role.
Devika Chopra
A second year Political Science student at Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University, Devika Chopra is an aspiring human rights advocate. Disturbed by India’s ever rising population and the lack of youth participation in decision-making processes, she hopes to be a part of the political system and ensure a greater voice for the youth. She is a member of Global Youth India as well as her college debating and MUN societies, all of which has allowed her a glimpse into the world of diplomacy and international relations.
Devishi Dar
Devishi Dar is a student of economics at Indraprastha College for Women. She is a prolific writer and is much invested in the field of social entrepreneurship, having been part of the Enactus chapter of her college. International relations and policy is another field that draws her. She counts among her interests, reading, writing, music and debating. Understanding the inner workings of government machinery and converting her knowledge of her subject to real life issues is something that she is passionate about. It is her belief that a society without stereotypes and prejudices is one that we should strive towards.
Being an ardent animal lover, she believes in taking care and in the equal treatment of animals. She hopes to build her own animal shelter some day.
Keval Patel
Keval Patel is a student pursuing a bachelors degree in Liberal Studies at the School of Liberal Studies, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University based in Gandhinagar. Apart from his interests in farming, reading, drumming and various other things Keval also believes in travelling. He has lived in various cities and towns such as Surat, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Unjha and Mount Abu. He claims to be a nomad and believes that travelling and having lived in various places in and outside Gujarat has helped him learn more than what he would have learnt had he stayed in just one place. He strongly believes in ideas such as ‘liberalism’, ‘growing your own food’ and ‘conservation of diversity in the environment’. He aims at being an expert in the field of International Relations in his future.
Naomi Hazarika
Naomi is currently in the final year of Master’s in Political Science from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. She completed her under-graduation from Miranda House, University of Delhi with honours in Political Science. She aspires to do research in the field of political philosophy, aims to earn a doctorate and would love to teach one day as a professor. Her areas of interest include political philosophy, normative political theory, identity politics, public policy and governance, issues of social justice and tribal rights. She loves to read classics and has a soft corner for the written word. Coming from a military background, she has lived in 12 cities over a period of 21 years and has finally made peace with calling herself a Delhiite. In her free time, you can always find her reading or binge watching her favourite TV shows.
Nithya Srinivasan
Nithya Srinivasan is a student of Economics at Miranda House, Delhi University. She is interested in pursuing a career in Economics and aspires to work with an International Development Organisation. Her interests range from social entrepreneurship to women empowerment and vocational skill training. She has previously interned with various non-profits in the fields of education and development. Nithya has spent her early childhood in Delhi and then moved to Bangalore where she completed her schooling from Delhi Public School, Bangalore North. She has consistently maintained a good academic record and topped the school in Economics and Physics in her final year. She has also been an active member of the Student council and school Basketball team. She is a passionate singer and debater and enjoys travelling and watching movies. Currently she is a member of the college debating society and editorial board.
Parnika Barara
Parnika Barara is a second year student pursuing Political Science at Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi. She is also trained as an Indian Classical Odissi dancer and likes to debate. Beyond the basic that defines her, an insight into her routine would include her reading about almost anything, participating in community service ,catching up on her favourite sitcoms and loving to spend time with her humongous Punjabi family. No matter how much she tries,her love affair with food and tea is a never ending one. She loves long nature walks, philosophy and introspecting about anything under the sun. She’s an honest heart with a truckload of ambitions and an acumen to gauge.
Pragya Jat
Pragya Jat is a student of Economics at St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi. She feels attracted to Economics as a discipline as it combines the rationality and practical approach of the sciences as well as the humanism of the liberal arts. It is an important tool of social transformation and provides one with the capacity to understand and possibly even rid the country of social plagues. She intends on pursuing a career in public policy and/or economic research and is immensely invested in bringing about social change. Her other interests include debating, reading, popular culture and, Italian food.
Prateek Pillai
Prateek is currently a student at Ashoka University where he is pursuing a major in economics with a minor in mathematics. His is someone who has varied interests ranging from physics to economics to international relations. He aims to go into research and is working towards a future in public policy. He is a voracious reader and loves reading both fiction and non-fiction books. Khaled Hosseini, Dan Brown and George RR Martin are some of his favourite authors. He also has a keen interest in philosophy, especially Kantian and Rawlsian thought. A Potterhead with a knack for speaking his mind, he is a major movie buff with political satires and thrillers being his genres of choice.
Priyasha Chawla
A graduate of Shri Ram College of Commerce, Priyasha Chawla pursued Bachelors in Commerce. Her schooling at The Heritage School gave her an opportunity to attend Space School Program by NASA where she was a part of the winning team.
Her active involvement in social entrepreneurship based projects satisfies her urge to aid marginalised communities. She has been a part of the Editorial team of her college magazine for two years. Her enthusiasm to identify realistic solutions helped her secure winning positions at a case study and a research paper presentation competition at Delhi University.
She loves to challenge herself. Despite being a novice, she participated in a Model United Nations and received a special mention for her vivid performance and organized events for the Debating and Commerce society of her college. She has tried to keep this value of expanding her horizons alive in all her endeavours.
Ragini Khurana
Ragini Khurana is an undergraduate student at Sciences Po Paris, Campus du Havre, which focuses on European Asian studies. She completed her schooling from Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram. She is currently pursuing a degree in liberal arts and her academic interests include legal pluralism, self governance mechanisms and conflict resolution. She aspires to work in the Middle East and Africa on regime democratisation and stabilisation. She is the president of the English Debating Society of her campus. Her other hobbies include dancing and travelling.
Rahul Singh Chauhan
Rahul is a first year undergraduate student of Economics at Presidency University, Kolkata. He currently reside at Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Economics has been my favoutrite subject since class ninth. He started with research in my first year itself, having represented India at the South Asian Economics Students Meet, Colombo.
Besides he is an avid MUNner and debater. At college he is the convenor of my college’s Economics festival and a founder student member of the Entrepreneurship Society. He look forward to the Researching Reality internship as a unique learning experience, which gives me an opportunity to apply my theoretical knowledge on ground.
Razi Iqbal
Razi graduated in Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi in May 2016. His interests lie in Economic policy and research, and his work has already been published by Elsevier. He is a passionate quizzer, a state level cricketer and a bibliophile. He also writes poetry, is enthusiastic about heavy bikes, and claims to know the national anthems of seventeen countries.
Razi has already received a full scholarship grant from the Swiss Centre of Excellence and will head to the Graduate Institute, Geneva for his Masters in International Economics in September.
Rishabh Rekhade
Rishabh has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Through the course of his study, he has researched and written essays on topics ranging from the Politics of China in the 21st Century to Catalan Nationalism within the Spanish Federal structure. He is primarily interested in the politics and cultures of South Asia and the Middle East. He has represented his high school in the Chennai Model UN, the Harvard Model Congress Asia Singapore and in the International Student Forum, held in Kyoto, Japan. Furthermore, he participated in the Global Youth Leadership Institute’s cultural exchange in New York. He was also nominated by his faculty as school President and was the founding President of the Debate Club in his high school. Currently, Rishabh is an intern with CCS, New Delhi as part of their Researching Reality Internship Program.
Sanchi Gupta
Sanchi is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Political Science at Miranda House. In the past, she has worked with New Delhi Television (NDTV) and the Centre for Legislative Research and Advocacy (CLRA). As a budding researcher, she is keen to explore the practical side of her discipline and is a part of two research studies – one attempts to decipher India’s foreign policy and the other aims to analyze the causes and consequences of sexual harassment on a college campus. She hopes to continue the process of examining the world around her through this internship at CCS.
Saumya Joshi
Saumya Joshi is pursuing undergraduate studies in Economics at Sri Ram College Of Commerce. She has a keen interest in matters related to political economy and international relations, and wishes to pursue related postgraduate studies. A member of her college’s Debating, Commerce, and Finance and Investment Societies, she enjoys reading witty political commentaries, writing for college magazines, debating at competitive tournaments and solving case studies.
Shaurya Arora
A warm spirit, Shaurya gives life to any conversation he gets into. He is currently pursuing economics as his major from University of Delhi and aspires to study the subject further. He strongly concerns about the changing climate. If anything describes him the best, it is the fancy food that he cooks with utmost pleasure. He tries to start his day with a game of basketball and end it by knitting words into beautiful poetry. High on optimism he accepts every challenge thrown upon him with generosity. He understands well the inertia of life and believes that hard work and efficiency is the only way to keep up with the velocity.
Shreshta Sharma
Shreshta Sharma is a second year undergraduate in English Literature from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi. With a passion to work for the society, she has been actively involved in National Service Scheme of her college as the core team member. She has also volunteered for teaching and organizing events at slums. An avid debater and an influencing speaker, she had participated in various public speaking events at national as well as state level. Aspiring to be a policy maker one day to bring the change she wants to see, this confident and independent girl is carving her way out in this world.
Tanay Raj Bhatt
Tanay Raj Bhatt is an 18-years old Economics student from Dyal Singh College, University of Delhi, currently in his first year. He is also studying for actuarial science papers. He was born and brought up in Varanasi and Jaipur. He is very fond of films and TV series and spends most of his day watching them. He happens to be a state level volleyball player and spends his vacations playing the game for hours. In his college, he is a regular debater and an occasional quizzer. He wishes to pursue masters in Economics after graduation and thereafter engage in an academic career.
Tanya Sharma
From New Delhi, Tanya Sharma is interested in interdisciplinary study with a focus on economics, languages, music, and culture. She is currently enrolled in a specialised cohort program, International Economics, at the University of British Columbia on a prestigious scholarship, the International Leader of Tomorrow. Drawing from her experiences at various NGOs in India, she published a report on what makes a sustainable social initiative for aspiring social entrepreneurs, titled My NGO Handbook, and later published with HuffPost India on public-health issues. Interested in research and analysis, she won the Outstanding Cambridge Learner Award for her essay titled Does Globalization Make the Poor Poorer? She is involved in a community-farmers’ market in Vancouver and as the Social Media Coordinator for her university’s economics society. She enjoys reading about India, economic philosophy, and economic history and shares her musings on http://www.econbox.tumblr.com.
Tanya Sethi
Tanya Sethi is a second year student of economics at Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi. Apart from being an economics aficionado, she espouses a passion for history, political science, psychology and philosophy among other social sciences. Tanya inculcates keen interest in policy oriented interdisciplinary research- especially on development related issues. She envisions a world completely free of poverty- one where each and every individual can lead a life of dignity, freedom and self-fulfilment- and selflessly aspires to direct her life towards its attainment. Her college adventures have included stints in fields as diverse as social entrepreneurship, management consultancy, start up incubation, and leading research projects. When the workaholic is not poring into journals and non-fiction books, she likes binge watching romedies and appreciating natural beauty. A travel freak, she loves meeting and interacting with new communities.
CCS Researching Reality Internship 