New Delhi ··:·· · last updated 9 November 2026

where i'll be

where to find me over the next few months. if any of it lines up with where you are, come say hi :)

research

I am currently working on a study that tests whether fear of missing out (FOMO) and conscientiousness interact to predict financial misinformation sharing. It extends Professor Kakkar’s framework on political ideology, conscientiousness, and fake news sharing into a financial context, with FOMO taking the place of ideology. checkout more details here, and the GitHub here.

Oct 13th Update: I have closed the data collection and survey part after receiving 311 eligible responses, and am now running the main analysis.

Nov 9th Update: I am building on what the first round of data taught me, and am now designing a second, larger version of the study. I am following Professor Kakkar’s advice and measurement concerns and am trying to use a longer personality measure, along with a mix of true and false financial messages, and randomised message order, so it can test whether FOMO drives sharing of scams specifically or sharing in general. I’m seeking ethics approval before any data collection, and I’ll publish the preregistered analysis plan once it’s in place, linking it on the GitHub as well.

building

back to running the Edunomix India Chapter day to day, the 501(c)(3) chapter i founded to teach economics to students who need it. i'd stepped back for a while under other commitments (don't worry guys i aced my board exams), and it is good to be in it properly again.

right now, that mostly means reviewing entries for the second edition of our nationwide essay competition. the submission deadline has now passed, and I’m mostly spending my time reading and evaluating essays from students in Classes 6 to 12, as well as first-year university and gap-year students, responding to five prompts on questions that matter for India, along with our other judges from our wonderful panel. the top entries will go on to join the Edunomix India research team, and I am really excited to soon announce the winners :)

Oct 1st Update: we have officially closed the entries for the Edunomix India Essay Competition, receiving hundreds of entries from all across India (over 24 states!), and are now in the process of reviewing it. The results will be announced by 1st November.

Nov 1st Update: we got WAY more entries than we expected, so we have pushed the results announcement to 15th November.

we have also partnered again with Learn and Teach UA for this season's Ukraine Speaks English seminars, free financial education for students across Ukraine whose schooling has been disrupted.

writing

most of my writing now goes into the financial misinformation study above, which is a different craft from an essay. for my shorter pieces, checkout the writing page!

recording

Oct 14th Update: WE JUST GOT A NOBEL LAUREATE TO AGREE TO AN INTERVIEW. We'll officially be interviewing Peter Hegemann, 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, next week!

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2026: illustration of Peter Hegemann

Peter Hegemann, 2026 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine. Illustration: Niklas Elmehed, Nobel Prize Outreach.

Nov 9th Update: Peter Hegemann’s interview has been postponed due to personal reasons on his end, so we will share a new date once it is set. In the meantime, we will be interviewing Brian Schmidt, 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, in December!

recently out on the Decoded Podcast:

  1. Sita Slavov, Professor @ Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University (Out: 5th November)
  2. Dr. Ajay Shah, Economist and co-founder @ XKDR Forum, PhD @ USC, BTech @ IIT Bombay (Out: 4th November)
  3. Dr Mahendra Kumar Singh, Assistant Professor @ DDU Gorakhpur University (Out: 19th October)
  4. Sundar Sarukkai, World Famous Philosopher (Out: 10th October)

upcoming episodes:

  1. Ashok Kantha, Former Ambassador of India to the People’s Republic of China (Date: 10th November)
  2. Eduard Talamàs, Professor @ IESE Business School and PhD @ Harvard University (Date: 25th November)
  3. Brian Schmidt, 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics (Date: December)
  4. Peter Hegemann, 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Professor @ Humboldt University of Berlin (Date: Postponed)
  5. Ram Sewak Sharma, CEO @ National Health Authority and the Innovator @ Aadhar Card (Date: Not Confirmed)

we have also been building our team, and are actively hiring newsletter associates, so if you would like to join, email Anya (our Head of the Newsletter department) at anya@thedecodedpodcast.com!

side projects

i've also been exploring a lot of different projects and skillsets over the last few months, so as to utilize my gap year to the fullest, while also gaining experience in technical skills to be able to conduct more efficient econ research in uni. checkout a few below:

learning

code mixing, how to be technical, and even more number theory.

in October, i also started learning linear algebra and advanced python. the linear algebra is mostly self-taught, through YouTube and MIT OpenCourseWare.

i also started Financial Markets and Introduction to Psychology from Yale Online, through Coursera!

Yale: Introduction to Psychology Yale: Financial Markets

reading

The Penguin History of the World, by J. M. Roberts & Odd Arne Westad (Sixth Edition)

suggest me a book!

off the desk

i ran my first half marathon this year! i will train in 2027 to run my first full marathon, preferably around June :)

reaching out

deliberately talking to more people, researchers, writers, anyone building something they care about. the most useful hour in my week is usually a conversation I did not strictly have to have. researching something? talk to me!

saying no to

most things. it took me a while to learn that a calendar with no gaps in it is not a sign of ambition, it is a sign of poor editing.

this is a now page, an idea I stole from Derek Sivers. the premise is that an About page tells you who someone has been, and a Now page tells you who they are this month. if we have spoken before and this is out of date, that is on me. nudge me.