Batch 3 (2026-27)
Ms. Aarti Tikoo
Research Title:
Nehru’s India, Modi’s Bharat
Ms. Aarti Tikoo is the Editor-in-Chief of The New Indian, one of the most credible digital media platforms in India. She is an award-winning Senior Editor with twenty-four years of experience in news reportage, editorials and opinion writing on issues ranging from geopolitics to economic policies and history. Apart from working at India’s biggest English national dailies such as Hindustan Times and The Times of India, she has also briefly worked for the United Nations, BBC, Columbia University and Indo-Asian News Service. She has reported from all major conflict regions in India—Kashmir, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Assam and also from Russia, Mongolia and France.
Amritha Radhakrishnan
Research Title: Robert Caldwell: The Missionary and the Dravidian Identity Question (1814-1891)
Amritha Radhakrishnan is an independent researcher and writer whose work spans policy, politics, and international affairs. She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from Madras Christian College, Chennai. Her research interests encompass Indian politics, international relations, public policy, political thought, history, and contemporary affairs, with a focus on critical inquiry and analytical rigour.
Alongside her research, Amritha has worked across political and policy-oriented roles, bringing an interdisciplinary perspective to her engagement with contemporary political and public affairs. Her writings, which explore questions of politics, policy, history and society, have appeared across various publications and digital platforms.
She has also presented her work at academic conferences and participated in wider scholarly discussions. Grounded in a commitment to advancing informed and critical perspectives, her writings seek to make complex ideas clear and accessible, and bring them into conversations of wider public significance.
Pushkar Raj
Research Title: Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi and the Foundations of Muslim Separatism in India
Pushkar Chaudhary is an independent researcher in Indian history and Persian studies, currently pursuing a Master’s in Persian Language at Jawaharlal Nehru University. His work is rooted in medieval Indian history, Indo-Persian literature, socio-religious movements, and identity formation, drawing on archival study and primary-source fieldwork across Hindi, English, Urdu, and Persian. He has conducted ethnographic fieldwork at the Kumbh Mela and documented isolated heritage sites across India. He serves as Editor of The Long Memory, a popular magazine on Indian history, and writes for various forums on history-related issues. A three-time recipient of the Aaryajanani Fellowship, awarded in collaboration with Ramakrishna Math, he has presented papers at academic conferences, including at FIHCR and Satyawati College, University of Delhi, and has led heritage walks across historical sites. As Founder of House of Liberty at JNU and Campus Ambassador for Indian Culture, he fosters scholarly dialogue on Indic historical narratives through writing and collaborative research.
Ravi Dutt Bajpai
Research Title: Madan Mohan Malaviya and India's Unfinished Renaissance
Dr Ravi Dutt Bajpai is an author and commentator currently based in Ranchi. He is affiliated with the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, as a researcher, and holds a doctorate from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. He has published several book chapters, journal articles and newspaper op-eds. His research spans Indian political and intellectual history, civilisational perspectives in international relations, non-Western and postcolonial approaches to world politics, and the comparative trajectories of China and India in global affairs. He is the author of three books: Chandra Shekhar: The Last Icon of Ideological Politics (Rupa Publications, 2019); Civilisation-States of China and India: Reshaping the World Order (Bloomsbury India, 2024); and Camille Bulcke: The Jesuit Exponent of Ramkatha (Cambridge University Press India, 2024)
Shubhrastha
Research Title: The Making of Regional Political Consciousness in Purvanchal, 1920–1930: Vernacular Traditions, Public Culture and Nationalism
Shubhrastha is the Founder and Director of Arthashastra Group, India’s first political consultancy firm to be run by a woman. She is a published author with Penguin. She writes columns for leading national dailies like The Hindu and Hindustan Times and also runs her own YouTube channel, The Churn, curating conversations around art, culture, literature and matters that influence our social-political landscape. Shubhrastha is a regular face on TV debates. She has also represented India at platforms like Konrad Adeneaur Foundation and International Democrat Union. She has also been the US State Department legislative fellow and an Aspen fellow.
Sushant Bharti
Research Title: Reconstructing Vrindavan: Urbanism, Sacred Space & Patronage in Krishna’s Cosmopolis
Sushant Bharti is a Conservation Architect and Researcher based in New Delhi. His broad interests lie in understanding the diverse architectural and cultural heritage of India, with a particular focus on the cultural heritage of Braj region.
He has previously worked with the National Museum, New Delhi, documenting cultural heritage in Uttar Pradesh and Ladakh. As part of this work, he was also involved in conceptualising museum designs for significant cultural sites, including Kashi Vishwanath, Kedarnath & Ladakh.
He is the author of Sagar Ke Senani, published by National Book Trust, which examines the role of Indian steam navigation companies in the Indian independence movement. His recent book, Madan Mohan: An Enchanting Saga, published by Mandala Publishers (Simon & Schuster), explores the history, architecture, and cultural significance of the celebrated sixteenth century Madan Mohan Temple of Vrindavan.
He has additionally conducted heritage documentation, manuscript cataloguing endeavours, and translation assignments at the Bhaktivedanta Research Center (BRC), notably translating historical, literary, and cultural works from Brajbhasha into Hindi.
He has been a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Ireland & Great Britian, London, the Society of Architectural Historians, Chicago & the Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, London.
Akshay Mukund Jog
Research Title: Sangathan, Seva and Electoral Politics: The Origin, Growth and Decline of the Hindu Mahasabha
Independent researcher, author, columnist, and orator. Author of five Marathi and two English books. Specializes in the study of India’s freedom movement under British rule, with particular interests in Veer Savarkar, the Hindu Mahasabha, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Indian revolutionary movement, the Hindu renaissance, and the evolution of the Hindutva movement.
Saptarsha Seal
Research Title: Sangathan, Seva and Electoral Politics: The Origin, Growth and Decline of the Hindu Mahasabha
Saptarsha Seal is currently an author, translator and a doctoral scholar at Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has completed his BA(Hons) in History (First Class, First) from Scottish Church College (2022) and MA in History (First Class, First) from University of Calcutta (2024). He has been the recipient of Hawkins Medal, Alexander Duff Memorial Prize, Macfarlane Prize etc. He served as research assistant in Flame University, Pune and guest lecturer in Ramakrishna Mission Belur Vidyamandir College, Kolkata. His research interests include electoral politics, charisma, discourses on Hindutva and identity politics in post-colonial South Asia.
