Center for New Economics Studies

In this episode of Vichaar, we speak with Swetha C Sudhakar , Founder and Director of Born2Win Social Welfare Trust, Chennai, one of India's most concrete examples of trans-led welfare work in action. From chronic underfunding and the failures of the Garima Greh scheme to the gap between Pride Month MoUs and genuine workplace inclusion, Swetha takes us through what it actually means to build e...

In this episode of Azaad Awaaz's Vichaar, we sit down with  Prof. Sayantan Datta , a transfeminine genderfluid academic and writer, to talk about the messy, urgent realities of gender identity in India today. From the personal lens shaped by their own lived experience to the socially constructed nature of gender itself, Prof. Datta reflects on how far or how little the transgender rights movem...

Exams, friendships, and Career - where does mental well-being fit into this or it is simply neglected? In this episode, our host, Parth sits down with Dr. Vaishali Miglani, Team Lead Psychiatrist at Sukoon, OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat, to talk about something every college student feels but rarely has words for - the Exam-Social-Job Triangle. Three pressures that are each considered compl...

In this episode of Interlinked, hosts Chanakya and Aaliyah sit down with Professor Ish Maini, an interdisciplinary researcher, legal consultant, and storyteller to explore one of the most quietly radical tensions in human experience: the gap between what language promises and what it can never fully deliver. We examine how the precision of law and the fluidity of storytelling pull in opposite dire...

What happens when someone who’s spent their entire career performing decides to write about their own life? Before Instagram, before personal branding, and before “curated authenticity” became part of our vocabulary, we read autobiographies. This episode, featuring Ms. Meghna Gangadharan, dives into the autobiographies Indian actresses, more specifically - Hansa Wadkar, Zohra Segal, and Madhur Jaf...

In this episode of Vichaar, we speak with Kiran Moghe, a trade unionist and long-time labour activist associated with the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). Drawing from decades of work with organisations such as the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) and the Pune Zilla Ghar Kamgar Sanghatna, Moghe reflects on the structural invisibility of domestic workers, the stigma attached to...

This episode of InterLinked to delves into the importance of the role of films in telling stories of truth in India. In discussion with Professor Nalamala Chandra Bhanu Murthy, the director of the upcoming movie “Bharathapuram”, a story based on the caste atrocities in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in the 1980’s, the episode looks at what telling a historical story through art in India may look li...

What do you do when educated, urban, and supposedly progressive people your age say things that are deeply sexist, casteist, or homophobic? How do you respond when the very people who claim to support equality are the ones reinforcing oppression? In this episode, I share real statements from 18-21 year olds that left me speechless. Dr. Sindhu Rajasekaran, scholar, author of the bestseller Smashing...

Hosted by Meddhya Singh, this episode challenges the idea that gossip is merely trivial, malicious, or unserious. In a 21st-century world shaped by social media, virality, and constant public scrutiny, gossip has become something far more powerful. Rather than treating gossip as a moral failure, the discussion examines it as a social force. Through a debate, our guests take opposing positions on w...

Hosted by Meddhya Singh, this episode features Ms. Apoorva Lakshmi Kaipa in a discussion on the twentieth century as a moment of extraordinary intensity, defined by world wars, collapsing empires, mass media, and rapid social change. In this charged landscape, gossip and scandal did not merely accompany history; they actively shaped public opinion, political power, and cultural norms. As cheap pri...

In this episode, hosted by Meddhya Singh, Mr. Chandril Ray Chaudhuri joins us for a deep dive into the medieval origins of gossip, to uncover a hidden history of power, gender, and control. We trace the linguistic and social transformation of “gossip” from its medieval origins as “godsibb”, a sacred term for trusted kinship, to its modern use as a gendered insult. We explore how women’s oral knowl...

We are in a world where machines are quick to replicate art, and replace artisans, at a pace where we do not even look at pieces of carvings on our furniture, or the patterns of colors on our carpets as art anymore, these are merely objects created by machines to soothe the appearance of our lives. Yet what of the true artists? What of that carpenter, who learnt how to carve a peacock on a piece o...

In a fast developing country, it is not uncommon to see forests being chopped down to make more space for people. Such conditions have often led to conflicts between wildlife and forest proximate people. How are such situations dealt with? Can a happy result for both be ensured? These are some of the questions being answered in Nandini Pandey’s discussion with Mr. Giriraj Singh Kushwaha, a former...

The Vichaar segment, in conversation with PhD scholar and activist  Angel Sophan,  explores the intricate relationship between caste and food practices in India. Ms. Sophan, a researcher in the Department of Psychology at Christ University, highlights how notions of purity and pollution govern dietary choices, reinforcing caste hierarchies and social exclusion. Tracing historical roots from the Ve...

In this episode, we unpack the big question: Are private universities really as inclusive as they claim? Drawing from a report on queer, trans, and caste-oppressed student experiences in four private universities of Delhi NCR, we explore the gap between glossy policies and lived realities. From campus “safe spaces” to hidden hierarchies, this conversation examines what safety, belonging, and care...

In an increasingly fast-paced world, many beautiful things are often forgotten to be appreciated. In such a context, this second episode of InterLinked once again pauses to look at art, and the artist, in such a world. Nandini Pandey continues her conversation with Poonam Girdhani, a film and theatre actress, to delve into the magical realms of the recently revived art of Dastangoi. Being one of t...

In an increasingly fast-paced world, many beautiful things are often forgotten to be appreciated. In such a context, this first episode of InterLinked takes a moment to pause and look at art, and the artist, in such a world. Nandini Pandey engages in a conversation with Poonam Girdhani, a film and theatre actress, to delve into the magical realms of the recently revived art of Dastangoi. Being one...

We are aware of what rural development is and what it does. But where does it come from? Who generates the funds to help communities and how do they do it? What motivates them? These are exactly the questions this episode seeks to answer with a conversation between Nandini Pandey and Sanjay Jain, the founder of Yatra Foundation, an Australian based organisation funding multiple schools in India ov...

In this episode of Interlinked hosted by Meddhya Singh, we sit down with Dr. Yogesh Kulkarni, Executive Director of Vigyan Ashram, a modern-day Gurukul in Pune, Maharashtra that has been reimagining education since 1983. From his early years as a mechanical engineer and corporate professional to his decades of leadership at Vigyan Ashram, Mr. Kulkarni has dedicated his life to proving that “develo...

The episode delves into a conversation between Shankar Maruwada, former entrepreneur who turned to the world of education and development, starting the EkStep Foundation, committed to reaching over 200 million children, and host Nandini. The conversation explores the role of technology in the advocation of education in an Indian context. India is a country much poverty stricken, and proper educati...

In the Vichaar segment, in conversation with Professor Stellina Jolly , we explore how climate-induced mobility intersects with international law, human rights, and national policy in the Global South. It examines how nearly 90% of India’s internal displacement in 2024 was linked to natural disasters, yet legal and policy frameworks remain mitigation-centric, sidelining rights and adaptation. It h...

What happens after the unthinkable? In this episode, Geetaali Malhotra speaks with Prof. Juan Vallejo, Assistant Professor at O.P. Jindal Global University and expert in international criminal law and humanitarian law, about how international legal systems confront the aftermath of atrocity. They explore the legal architecture surrounding genocide, the legacy of tribunals like the ICTY and ICTR, a...

In this episode of InterLinked, we delve into the fragile intersections of identity, tradition, and urban change in Kashmir, exploring how communities rooted in place are negotiating the pressures of modernity. Shivali Yadav is in conversation with Najam Us Saqib, a researcher whose work brings together urban governance, participatory ethnography, and the lived realities of marginalized communitie...

In this episode of InterLinked, hosted by Geetaali Malhotra, we delve into the complex world of Khap Panchayats-traditional caste councils rooted in North Indian society. Joined by Ms. Prachy Hooda, Lecturer at the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies, O.P. Jindal Global University, we examine the shifting dynamics of these institutions at the intersection of law, gender, and governance. From legal...

In this episode of Vichaar (Azaad Awaaz) , in conversation with renowned human rights activist Mr. Nirmal Gorana, delves into the expanding phenomenon of bulldozer justice in India and its devastating effects on marginalized communities. Mr. Gorana, convener of the National Campaign Committee for Eradication of Bonded Labour and key figure in the Mazdoor Awas Sangharsh Samiti, shares critical insi...