Kabir graduated from Purdue University in 2010 where he studied Business Management and Marketing. After pursuing a career spanning various industries including Food Technology, Telecommunications & F&B, he received his MBA from Les Roches, Switzerland with a specialisation in Corporate Finance. His passions include golf, football, and food.

Q studies care, or tries to. They graduated from O.P. Jindal Global University in 2018, hold an MPhil in International Peace Studies from Trinity College Dublin, and presently pursue their PhD in International Relations at the University of St Andrews. They moonlight as a social scientist, hold the Essai award for 'World's Worst Puns', and spend an ideal night with Doctor Who, Wilde, and Alexandra Kollontai.

Apoorva completed a Masters in English Literature from Ambedkar University, Delhi and is currently studying a self-curated, self-taught program in Spanish Literature. Before joining essai, she worked as a GMAT, GRE, SAT, and IB Literature/Spanish tutor. In her free time, she re-reads Jorge Luis Borges and Jane Austen, translates novels and composes bad poetry in Spanish, and teaches herself French. She also tries (!) to run a book club.

Pritika is currently reading Political Theory at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to this, she completed her M. A. from the Centre for Political Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, specializing in Indian political thought, and graduated from Lady Shri Ram College in 2018 with a degree in Political Science, as well as the College Award for English Debating. Pritika has a soft spot for purple prose, potatoes in Calcutta-style biryani, and puppies of all shapes and sizes.

Maya graduated from Ashoka University in 2020 where they studied History, Literature, and Sociology as a Deutsche Bank Scholar.

They spend their time writing about their favourite establishments in Delhi, helping with the production of queer art and culture events, exploring research on special needs education, and playing the saxophone.

Anushka is an art enthusiast, graduated with a dual degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), New York and the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), New Delhi. She specializes in UI/UX, and is a master of packaging design, infographics as well as visual merchandising. Her love for filmmaking stems out of her incessant need to know the story behind everything! She’s inclined towards diverse art forms and her multicultural approach makes for open-minded, fun filled, and interesting conversations.

Samadrita completed her bachelor's in History from St, Stephens College, New Delhi. She is described by her friends as a fashion enthusiast and has a strong inclination towards arts and culture. She is a professional dancer with an experience of 15 years and so in her spare time, when no one’s looking, she enjoys singing. When not at Essai, she enjoys watching shows that are not in the vernacular and subsequently learning the language spoken in the show (currently its Italian); listening to copious amounts of Tame Impala, and deconstructing the latest Youtube drama.

Umang is a poet & History graduate from Trinity College, Dublin, where she did too much college debating. In her spare time, she makes bad coffee, writes about utopias, sends her friends memes, and tries to read more.

Maanya graduated from Jesus and Mary College in 2018 with a degree in Psychology. After pursuing the Young India Fellowship, she went on to complete her M.A. in Liberal Studies from Ashoka University, specialising in Social Psychology. She loves drinking coffee and trying different teas.

Kritvi graduated from OP Jindal Global University in 2019. While they majored in Literary Studies, their fascination for the moving image led them to pursue a Master's in Film Studies from the University of Amsterdam. Apart from Kritvi's formal educational training, they're skilled in collecting time-worn books that they don't read, and watching poorly rated films.

Roshni graduated from Ashoka University in 2021, with a major in English and lived her Pitch Perfect dreams by singing in an acapella team. Outside of Essai, you can find her writing fiction, looking up coffee equipment she will never buy, or getting into debates about mint chocolate chip. She enjoys music, rainy days, and battling vaguely messed up sleep cycles.

Shubhra completed her Bachelor's in Political Science from Gargi College, Delhi University. She went on to do her Master's in Global Studies from Ambedkar University Delhi and graduated in 2021. She was formerly a part of the Delhi poetry circuit and has performed at various events held in the city. When not working, she loves eating and looking up movie plots on wikipedia.

Amtesh graduated from St. Stephen's College in 2019 with a Bachelors in Philosophy, and then from Melbourne Law School in 2022 with a JD as valedictorian of the class of 2020 . Amtesh’s achievements include, but are not limited to, thinking and therefore existing, reading 24-hour clocks, and waking up after just a single alarm. Amtesh is found to be often inaccurately quoting the works of Wittgenstein and Sartre, in which Amtesh takes great joy. Amtesh’s biggest fear is climate change.

Vinay graduated from Ashoka University reading across Sociology, Anthropology, Politics, and English.

Vinay loves three things for certain: pop music, specialty coffee, and flowers; the rest is simply an experiment in fun.

Mitali, our in-house social media and marketing maven, graduated from the Lady Shri Ram College for Women in 2019 with a degree in Journalism. Ever since, she's been dabbling in different branches of the marketing realm — fashion, beauty, news and now education!

In her free time, she loves binge-watching TV shows, working out and cooking.

Ishana graduated from Sri Venkateswara College, Delhi University in 2020, and went on to pursue a Masters in English from Ashoka University in 2022, with a specialisation in Modern Literature and Culture. Intrigued by perceptions, strange materialisms, and the vitalistic ecologies of the twenty-first century, she spends her free time reflecting upon aesthetics, science fiction, decaying objects, and the textures that enfold our urban corporealities.

Arnav is a recent graduate of Ashoka University, where he majored in Political Science and Sociology. A self-described nerd, he’s a big fan of knowing things for the sake of knowing things, and has a pronounced weakness for period dramas and video games.

Keeping Arnav happy is pretty easy - all he ever needs is a good history podcast, a cup of chamomile tea, and the company of his dogs.

Jagrit graduated from Sri Venkateswara College, Delhi University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in English and then went on to complete his Master’s from Ashoka University in 2022, with a specialization in Modern Literature & Culture. In his free time, Jagrit freelances as a climate change alarmist amidst breaks from researching about queerness and ecology, all the while hurtling from one strange corner of Delhi to another.

Shreyanshu graduated from Ashoka University in 2022 with a Master’s of Arts in English and a specialisation in Gender and Sexuality studies.

On most days, he can be found amidst Delhi’s streets, or eyeing the next set of stationery (which he will never use), and he believes Fiddle Leaf Fig to be the prettiest indoor plant!

Coral graduated from Ashoka University in 2022 with an advanced major in English. They are currently exploring writing, reading, Delhi, and everything in between.

Diksha is a creative based in New Delhi. Prior to Essai, they have held several writing, design, and communications roles in the arts and social sectors.

They hold a MA in Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmiths, University of London.

Neel graduated from the College of Engineering, Pune where he studied Mechanical Engineering, and then got as far away from it as possible.

In his free time, he enjoys falling down internet rabbit holes, playing the guitar and singing.

Shatakshi completed her Bachelor's in Political Science, from Ramjas College, Delhi University in 2019, after which she went on to do her Masters in English from Ashoka University. She is currently struggling to balance a life of hyper-independent adulting and the occasional writing. As a writer, Shatakshi enjoys playing around with genres in her writing, mixing her poetry with her prose and vice-versa. In her free time, she can be found promoting therapy and feeding her flatmates soup.

Kyle graduated from Ashoka University where he studied Sociology and Anthropology. His nomadic lifestyle has most recently brought him to Delhi: where he’s been feng shui-ing his room, going for plays, and making his way back into reading.

Jaidev graduated from Ashoka University with a degree in psychology and a minor in media. With diverse experience in marketing and brand strategy across the retail, lifestyle, and FMCG sector, he is extremely intrigued by all-things art, design, and anything content-driven.

In his free time, he likes to browse through tattoo ideas on Pinterest (which he will never get), deconstruct endless music videos, and attempt to perfect a classic spaghetti pasta.

Sanjana graduated from Ashoka University in 2022, completing a dual major in Economics and Psychology.

In her free time, she can be found petting dogs, exploring new eateries, or binge-watching TV shows.

Rajani completed her graduate level studies from Delhi University before completing her Masters in Business Administration specialising in Sales & Marketing. She has had successful stints in various industries including Aviation, Tourism and Hospitality where her work was widely recognised and acknowledged.

Her passion is travelling and she believes that the world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.

Sameem completed a Bachelor’s in English from Jamia, after which he pursued a Master’s at Ashoka University. Not one for much talk, Sameem enjoys reading Kundera, watching Iranian cinema, and playing cricket.

Nandini graduated from Ashoka University in 2022 with a degree in Psychology. She loves exploring new fields and has a diverse work background with experience in Clinical psychology, HR, business development and marketing.

Her passion for psychology guides her perspective on all things in life! She loves to spend her free time cooking or binge-watching Modern Family for the millionth time. Fun fact about her, she can’t resist stopping to pet every dog she sees!

Ishita graduated from Ashoka University in 2019 with a degree in History. Since then, she has spent not a moment thinking about the past.

Her fixations include shepherding microbes towards creating delicious concoctions, everything to do with Urdu music and storytelling, and the anthropological possibilities of crowded bazaars.

Anmol finished his Master’s in English from St. Stephen’s College in 2023.

Fascinated by fissures, limits and thresholds, he likes thinking about the filamentary and shapeless nature of our modern condition, and spends his free time propagating more plants that he can take care of.

Sejal is a graduate of Ashoka University’s Young India Fellowship program. Her academic pursuits have instilled in her a deep appreciation for displacement literature and a keen interest in developing educational content tailored for school settings.

As a professional, Sejal aims to engage with students, capturing their unique stories, and offering valuable guidance to help them excel in their lives. Occasionally, she loves to catch up with football highlights, watch matches with her friends, write letters to fingernails, movie characters, and random things that surround her.

Angana completed her master’s in English from Ashoka University with a specialisation in South Asian Literature and is currently trying to translate 20th century Hindi fiction into English. On weekends, she writes short stories, finishes off a whole pizza, and trains to run a marathon.

Her works have been published in The Equator Line Magazine, The Bombay Literary Magazine and The Remnant Archive.

Arun graduated from St. Stephen’s College with a Bachelor’s in English - spending a questionable amount of time with the theatre society - and went on, for two more years, to read Literature on campus for his Master’s.

Currently letting life happen, he finds comfort in oscillating between old and new homes, melancholic and party playlists, and long naps and longer walks.

Veda graduated from Krea University in 2023 where she studied Literature and History and made the Harlem Renaissance her niche. In her free time, you will find her making lists, listening to Grateful Dead, and obsessing over all the books she is yet to read.

A science student turned Econ & Pol. Sc. Graduate; Emad pursued a bachelor’s degree from Aligarh Muslim University. His inquisitive disposition landed him at YIF, Ashoka University where he found his appetite for Theatre and Acting, among other things.

When not at Essai, you may find him relishing Classical Music, Urdu Poetry/Literature, a book on Politics, and Philosophy struggling with ideals and human nature. He seeks pleasure in traveling, socializing, and admiring gourmets.

Priyamvada graduated with an undergraduate degree in Philosophy from Miranda House in 2021 where they spent most of their time questioning the reality and touching some grass. They recently completed their Master’s in the same subject (Philosophy, not grass) from University of Delhi. They use their brain as a primary storage for mostly two things- useful philosophical theories and useless music trivia.

Sakshi has a bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology & was part of the Young India Fellowship’s batch of ‘23. In her spare time, you’d find Sakshi reading old journals and embroidering cherry blossoms on soft old t-shirts.

Ananay graduated from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science and then went on to do his Master’s in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

He cares about resting and flourishing in Delhi’s winter sun with his friends and loves doing nothing (napping) in his free time.

Yana graduated from Lady Shri Ram College in 2021 with a Bachelors in Sociology.

She then spent the next two years getting a Masters in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, where she enjoyed taking long walks on campus and drinking chai with her friends.

In her moments of relaxation, she enjoys reading (though rarely finishing any) novels, writing wobbly prose, making detailed to-do lists, and petting her cat.

Aditi completed her Bachelor’s in a Triple Major across Psychology, Sociology, and English from Christ University. She went on to do her Master’s in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University. Her academic works explore climate change, sustainability, gender, and everything betwixt and between. 

Outside of work, she loves being in pursuit of a perfect cup of coffee, taking long walks in the Delhi winter (with the lingering fragrance of saptaparni!), and befriending gorgeous cats that must be petted by her.

Rhea graduated from Ashoka University, where she studied Biology and Philosophy. She is passionate about animal welfare, often spending her time befriending stray dogs and cats using treats. Besides this, she also enjoys reading books and experimenting with cooking in her free time.