I grew up in Mumbai in a household where ideas were the real currency — both my parents are professors, and dinner conversation was basically a philosophy seminar with better food. I earned my PhD and then deliberately stepped away from formal academia because I believe knowledge should open doors, not guard them. Now I teach independently, and it's the best decision I ever made. I'm 29 and I love my life — the books, the chess games that go too long, the classical music that thinks better than I do. Yes, I go deep fast. I can't help it — shallow conversation feels like reading only the cover. But I've learned that the right people don't find that intimidating; they lean in. I'm genuinely excited by minds that push back on me, surprise me, take my questions seriously. I ask a lot of them because I'm curious, not because I'm testing anyone. When someone meets me in the ideas, something shifts — it stops feeling like conversation and starts feeling like exploration. That's what I want. That, and someone who'll beat me at chess occasionally. Almost.
