Sunny Kumar Gupta

Sunny is an independent architect and urban researcher whose work examines the production of urban space in the Global South through a practice grounded in lived experience and scholarly critique. His recent ethnographic research in Jaitpur, an “unauthorised” colony on Delhi’s urban periphery—where he grew up—explores how neighbourhoods are co-produced through acts of response and retaliation to formal planning boundaries. Published in Economic & Political Weekly, the study proposes “settling” as a theoretical lens to understand how propertied geographies emerge outside master plans—through trust-based economies, incremental spatial claims, and locally embedded negotiations.

Moving beyond the conventional scope of architecture, Sunny’s practice centers community-led development. As part of his long-standing association with Studio Recycle Bin, he actively contributed to scaling the studio’s work. Recycle Bin now collaborates with over 15 government bodies in Chennai to reimagine holistic redevelopment for informal settlement. This has allowed him to co-develop participatory systems that embed everyday governance in informal settlements. He supported the development of the Slum Parliament model and designed the Makkal Mandram (People’s Stage’), a space that hosts dialogues between residents and public institutions responsible for development to make decisions about housing, sanitation, and childcare infrastructure. The project was recognised nationally with the HUDCO Award for Best Practice to Improve the Living Environment.

Sunny will pursue an MSc in Urban Development Planning at University College London, aiming to integrate grounded urban theory with institutional planning frameworks that work with communities, not just for them.

Beyond fieldwork and research, Sunny enjoys drawing, animating, and cooking. He has collaborated with independent filmmakers and civil society organisations to create animated films and illustrated booklets that support urban movements and community advocacy. These creative practices complement his urban work, allowing him to communicate complex spatial and political ideas in accessible and engaging ways.

Tansi Fotedar

Tansi graduated from National Law University, Delhi in 2022 as a triple gold medalist, and is presently a lawyer practicing in New Delhi as a counsel in the chambers of Mr. Nakul Dewan, Senior Advocate and King’s Counsel. 

Tansi’s interest in law is rooted in its power as the sole equalizing tool in society.  This drove her myriad interests and endeavours at law school, where she worked with the Centre for Communication Governance, researching and drafting reports on issues at the intersection of technology, privacy and civil liberties, and also served as the Managing Editor of the University’s flagship law review.

Since her graduation, Tansi has spent three years working with a senior advocate with a multi-jurisdictional practice. During this time, she appeared in cutting-edge international arbitration trials and litigations, three Constitution Bench decisions that serve as landmark precedents in India’s arbitration landscape and a variety of cases dealing with civil, constitutional and commercial laws across courts and tribunals, including the ongoing challenge to the exclusionary nature of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021 before the Supreme Court of India. Working on cases that have directly shaped the law and its interaction with millions of people and institutions demonstrated to her the power of strategic litigation and diverse international perspectives in developing Indian law.

This prompted her decision to pursue the Bachelor of Civil Laws at the University of Oxford, where she intends to gain an in-depth, theoretical perspective on specific areas of comparative constitutional law and commercial / civil laws and engage with their practical application across common law jurisdictions.

Outside of the law, Tansi enjoys trips to the hills, solving the New York Times crossword and sampling the best breakfast spots in town. 

Archis Mukhopadhyay

Archis is an aspiring astrophysicist graduating from IISER Kolkata, with a keen interest in understanding how planets form and evolve. His curiosity has always been driven by a desire to connect elegant physical theory with real, observable phenomena in the universe.

His first exposure to astrophysics research came through the National Initiative on Undergraduate Science (NIUS) Astronomy Camp in 2022. He vividly remembers being awed by the scale of the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope in Khodad—an experience that sparked a deeper engagement with astrophysics. Since then, he has worked on diverse research projects at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg. These allowed him to explore phenomena across vastly different scales—from star formation and evolving ‘jellyfish’ galaxies to the large-scale structure of the early universe.

In the autumn of 2025, he will join the MSc Physics program at ETH Zurich, focusing on exoplanetary science. What excites him most is the intersection of theory and observation, especially the challenge of modeling processes that cannot be directly observed, like gas accretion onto young planets. ETH hosts some of the leading groups in this field, and he hopes to contribute meaningfully to this research and, eventually, to the expanding exoplanetary science community in India.

Beyond research, he enjoys playing the violin, participating in science communication, and volunteering in educational outreach. In the long run, he hopes to help strengthen India’s astrophysics ecosystem by building bridges between research, education, and public engagement.

Jasmeen Kaur Brar

Jasmeen graduated with a Bachelor's degree in agriculture from Punjab Agricultural University, where she immersed herself in the science and practice of sustainable farming. Raised in an agricultural family in Punjab, she was deeply influenced by the Sikh principle of Uttam Kheti—the belief that farming is a noble and dignified calling. This ethos instilled in her not only a sense of pride in her roots but also a lifelong commitment to improving the lives of farmers through science and innovation.

From an early age, Jasmeen was captivated by the rhythms of rural life and the intricacies of crop production. Her hands-on experience in the field, combined with a scientific curiosity, led her to explore how plants grow, interact with their environment, and respond to stressors.

In 2025, she will begin her MSc in Plant Sciences at Wageningen University, Netherlands, where she plans to specialize in controlled horticulture. Jasmeen aims to contribute to research on sustainable crop production while exploring how controlled conditions can affect the growth of plants. Her long-term goal is to support farmers, especially in developing regions, by making advanced plant science accessible and actionable, guided by the principle of Sarbat da bhala—the well-being of all. With a unique blend of practical know-how and academic rigor honed through her family’s farming enterprise, she hopes to lead projects that merge innovation with inclusivity.

Jasmeen finds solace in poetry and reading, often drawing inspiration from nature and rural life.