PROFILE OF CURRENT FELLOWS
2022 – 23
Aishwarya Gupta
Aishwarya Gupta is an architect from Noida, Uttar Pradesh who focused on understanding neighbouring migrant communities in architectural studio projects. Her research thesis situated the open model of peripheral urbanisation in the context of stressed urban villages in Noida and helped her discover broad intersecting sociological concepts with the built environment. Her emerging interests are based on this research. In the UFP, she anticipates methodological experimentation rooted in fieldwork to enable further engagements with multiple fields, especially in the formation of collective proposals for in-situ upgradation of urban villages.
Anand A
Anand A is from Namakkal, Tamil Nadu with degrees in agriculture and Agricultural Economics. Their interests lie in affect and ethics among the queer community, human-ecological interactions and anti-caste activism along with fiction writing and translations. They have academic training in rural studies and its proximate subjects and believe that the methodological training and theoretical perspectives that they gain from the UFP will help build their career as a thorough researcher as they intend to pursue a PhD in Anthropology in the future.
Ananya Sharma
Ananya Sharma is an architect from Gurugram, Haryana. She is interested in urban studies research focusing on evidence-based analysis, urban challenges in envisioning sustainable cities, and policy frameworks and reforms with a special emphasis on humanitarian approaches towards community building and stakeholder engagement.
In the UFP, she aims to explore the urban in diverse verticals by interacting with professionals working at different urban scales and through the comprehensive course structure and interdisciplinary approach. She believes that she will gain a better understanding of her interests within urbanism through the UFP.
Aniket Chouhan
Aniket Chouhan is from Sehore, Madhya Pradesh. He enjoys reviewing movies, reading novels, outdoor sports and travelling. He aims to explore urban studies and social documentation in the UFP focusing on economic inequality and housing problems in the urban centres, which will create a base for him to pursue a PhD track in the future.
Anita Sharma
Anita Sharma from Gangtok, Sikkim, has a BSc (Honours) in Forestry and a M.A in Environmental Studies. An interdisciplinary approach to environmental issues has always captivated her attention and she believes in the possibilities of ethnographic and open-ended survey tools to develop long-term sustainable solutions with the inclusion of local communities. In the UFP, she wants to explore urban societies, the transformation of urban spaces and understand sustainability debates in small towns for policies to be economically and environmentally viable.
Antara Gupta
Antara Gupta is from Kolkata, West Bengal with a B.A (Honours) in Sociology and Anthropology and a Post-graduate Diploma in Advanced Studies and Research. She is interested in qualitative research, ethnographic studies and creative presentations of research through art, illustrations, zines and multimedia for greater accessibility. Through the UFP’s practice-based learning model, she hopes to achieve clarity about her preferred practice and her academic or career trajectory.
Antara Madavane
Antara Madavane is a designer from Delhi. She co-founded Upaai, a design firm with a focus on healthcare and education with an interest in how information can be communicated in more inclusive ways. Drawn to UFP’s diverse and interdisciplinary approach, she aims to contextualise and improve her practice, and learn with and from her peers. She hopes the programme will provide a foundation to better understand complex issues in India.
Apoorva Saini
Apoorva Saini is from Ajmer, Rajasthan with a disciplinary background in the Humanities. She is the founder and editor of ‘The Bilingual Window’, an online magazine for short stories. She previously worked with Yoda Press and Centre for Writing and Communications, Ashoka University. In the UFP, she aims to expand her vantage points in writing and research the idea of spaces to help her current long-term project on city writing.
Chaitanya Lodha
Chaitanya Lodha is a planner from Ujjain, Madya Pradesh. He is interested in incorporating technological innovations into the urban planning domain and exploring the possibilities of multidisciplinary integration for a sustainable future.
He believes that the UFP will provide him with a unique platform to interact with and understand diverse viewpoints and the flexibility to connect them with his specialty. He hopes to be sensitised to the complexities of real-life scenarios and better understand data and statistics through the programme.
Chithra Nair
Chithra Nair is a geographer and planner from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. She has previously engaged in climate change adaptation research through the themes of sustainability and disaster risk reduction. Through the UFP, she aims to understand urban issues in an interdisciplinary manner by learning technical and analytical skills that will help her as an urban practitioner. She wants to pursue a career in urban resilience and become an urban disaster specialist, addressing transboundary disaster risk issues and working at an international level.
Divya Davis
Divya Davis is an engineer from Thrissur,Kerala. During her internship in Kerala Startup Mission, working in the UNDP YouthCo:Lab project, she discovered the relevance of climate action and the importance of startups to address it meaningfully. In the UFP, she aims to broaden her perspective in understanding sustainability for the built environment with exposure to a diverse group of people from various disciplines. She looks forward to reinventing her interests and gaining skills that will prepare her for her future career trajectory.
Esha Gupta
Esha Gupta is from Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra with a disciplinary background in the Humanities. She is interested in urban development that is people-centric; the role of infrastructure and open spaces in eliciting positive social, economical and environmental externalities; and the application of behavioural economics in framing social policies in urbanisation. In the UFP, she aims to build a holistic and comprehensive understanding of urbanisation, which will help her decide on a specialisation within urban studies for further studies or work.
Fasna K
Fasna K is from Kozhikode, Kerala with a disciplinary background in the Humanities. Her areas of interest are applied socio-cultural anthropology, indigenous and urban anthropology, sociolinguistics and environmental studies. In the UFP, she aims to explore interdisciplinary research possibilities between the built environment and anthropology and looks forward to collaborative research projects in her interest areas.
Jomol Jose
Jomol Jose is from Idukki, Kerala with academic training in Science and Malayalam Journalism. She has previously worked with an NGO and had the opportunity to engage with different perspectives. She loves to write positive local stories and has written stories for online and print media.In the UFP, she aims to learn about India’s diversity in terms of people and geography and expand into issues faced by urban communities and solutions for them.
Kashic Umasankar
Kashic Umasankar is an engineer from Chennai, Tamil with specialisation in Infrastructure Engineering Design.He is a transport planner by profession with an interest in active travel and public transportation planning, planning economics, mobility governance and policy. His interests also include exploring cities and photographing everyday scenes.In the UFP, he aims to understand how different urban problems are interconnected. He hopes that the programme will help him to explore new areas of study, better align his current practice and enhance his decision-making skills.
Kavya Palavalasa
Kavya Palavalasa is a lawyer from Hyderabad, Telangana. She is interested in questions of law and spatiality with respect to cities. In the UFP, she aims to discover possibilities in academics and the applied arena at an intersection of law, geography and urban design that focuses on contemporary emerging questions addressed in theory and practice.
Kazi Sharowar Hussain
Kazi Sharowar Hussain is from Barpeta, Assam with a Bachelor’s in Science (B.Sc) and a Master’s in Cultural Studies (M.A). His academic interests are migration, citizenship, culture and climate change and he has worked on these issues as a social worker and freelance journalist. In the UFP, he aims to expand his knowledge in urban livelihood issues, enhance his fieldwork experience and develop his career trajectory.
Kislay Kamlesh Choudhary
Kislay Kamlesh Choudhary is from Siliguri, West Bengal with academic training in Political Science. He is deeply interested in the development process, the functioning of the urban economy, social inequalities and deprivation, Indian politics, ethnic conflicts, identity and electoral party systems. He believes that the UFP will help him to build a strong foundation to examine cities through a variety of lenses and equip himself with tools to progress further in research and policy development.
Kuber Bathla
Kuber Bathla is from Hanumangarh, Rajasthan with academic training in Economics and Political Science. He is interested in political economy, economic development, monitoring and evaluation, public health, and urban and land affairs. Through the UFP, he aims to navigate his interests within the urban space, enhance his skills and acquire interdisciplinary knowledge to work in the government sector in the future.
Lakthing Mayurchon Muinao
Lakthing Myurchon Muinao is from Ukhrul, Manipur with degrees in History. She has worked on projects related to women in red light districts and children in slums in Delhi. Through the UFP, she aims to expand her knowledge about the functionalities of urban settlements and their evolution as well as people’s daily livelihoods. She believes this will help her in her future research work and to be better equipped to work with communities living in unplanned areas.
Maneesh M M
Maneesh M.M. is from Thrissur, Kerala with a disciplinary background in Economics, Political Science and Sociology. His academic dissertation and internships helped him channel his passion in the field of gender studies and the impact of science and technology on urban and rural societies and environment.In the UFP, he aims to expand his knowledge in theory and practice, and learn technical details in the field of urban development and planning.
Mansi Bhalarao
Mansi Bhalarao is from Mazgaon, Maharashtra with academic training in Sociology. During her undergraduate studies, she explored social exclusion and the relational inequalities that manifest at the intersection of caste, religion, education, gender and geographies. She has also been an avid writer of film and book reviews and social commentaries on gig economy, caste politics, reservations, sexuality and education. She is looking for the UFP to provide her opportunities to work and research in the areas of her interest, and help motivate her through her academic trajectory.
Manveen Kaur
Manveer Kaur is from Aurangabad, Maharashtra with an MBBS in medicine and surgery, an MSc in Gerontology and Ageing (society & ageing) and has completed a fellowship in Geriatric Medicine. She is interested in age-friendly cities,vulnerability and health. In the UFP, she aims to develop a language to communicate about the urban, which she believes will help her pursue her interest in ageing and health in the city.
Megha Jhawar
Megha Jhawar is an architect from Kharagpur, West Bengal.Her interests lie in urban built environment,common spaces, social infrastructure and systems in the urban realm. She aims to understand complex overlapping networks in the common spaces of society through the UFP by exploring avenues of research and work alongside people from different fields. She hopes to work with organisations which operate in the urban sector with similar beliefs and roles.
Megha Kshirsagar
Megha Kshirsagar is from Thane, Maharashtra with a Bachelor’s in Management Studies and a Master’s in Social Science. She is a social worker working on gender sensitisation. Her interests lie in caste, class, cultural and sanitation housing issues. In the UFP, she aims to refine her skills in data and report analysis, report and long-form writing, video editing, podcast, photography, GIS, mapping and survey design to help equip her with various practical skills.
Navya Chitte
Navya Chitte is an architect and planner from Hyderabad, Telangana. She worked with Janaagraha, where she was involved in research on urban transport governance related to Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities (UMTA) to empower Hyderabad city. Her interests lie in understanding and exploring the complex issues of urban densification. In the UFP, she aims to explore various research methods and expand her skill sets that will equip her for a career trajectory in urban research.
Neha Shigwan
Neha Shigwan is an architect from Mumbai, Maharashtra. Her academic and professional interest lies in devising public spaces and civic amenities for equitable use through participatory planning, design and advocacy with an inclination to study the impact of built-environment on biodiversity and environmental degradation.
In the UFP, she intends to explore the bridge between research, logistics and implementation. She believes that UFP’s curriculum at the nexus of urban and environmental policymaking and planning that addresses emergent social, economic and ecological issues will equip her for a career trajectory in sustainable development.
Nilkanth Pujari
Nilkanth Pujari is from Pune, Maharashtra with a disciplinary background in Sociology, English and Philosophy. He is interested in anthropological research and wants to explore developmental planning of the urban in the UFP through academic resources, experimental and practical learning.
Priyansh Hirudkar
Priyansh Hirudkar is from Nagpur, Maharashtra with a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering and an MA in Education. His areas of interest are education, mental health, gender, filmmaking, theatre and voice overs. In the UFP, he aims to converge his diverse interests into a specific career trajectory.
Ravina Kamble
Ravina Kamble is from Wardha, Maharashtra with academic training in Economics. She has previously arranged various education guidance programs and workshops in her village. She is interested in exploring economics in various dynamics. In the UFP, she aims to explore the practical implementation of her theoretical background and focus on gaining ground-level fieldwork experience.
Reshma R
Reshma R is from Palakkad Kerala with a BSc in Biology and an MSc in Zoology. Her interests include teaching, sharing and gaining new information, dancing and sports. She aims to work with people-centred organisations or engage in on-ground food and its results after the UFP.
Ritaj Kalaskar
Ritlaj Kalaskar is from Pondicherry with a wide range of growing interests that includes books, sports, languages, poetry, and theatre. He enjoys designing and planning sustainable architecture and landscapes across scales and connections.
In the UFP, he aims to discover areas of focus that connect society, economics, informality, regulations and infrastructure with environmental sustainability by exploring urban complexities through different lenses.
Ritvik Gupta
Ritvik Gupta is from Pune, Maharashtra with interests in psychology, caste and gender in India, modernity and mobility in India, English literature and culture studies. His exposure to the urban as a massive synthesis of system,identities and relations began during undergraduate studies with the book Why Loiter? (2011) and a college project about app-based, on-demand mobility.
Through the UFP. he aims to expand his knowledge and skills in development facilities to understand new subject areas that will fill the gaps in his training.
Roshni R Krishnan
Roshni R Krishnan is a geographer from Pattazhy, Kerala. Her academic interest lies in studying the spatial aspects of various entities or issues.She aims to expand her knowledge in the UFP through exposure to skills, thoughts and people that will help her choose a career path.She has been on roll ball and volleyball teams and likes drawing and acting.
Rushali Rohira
Rushali Rohira is from Delhi with academic training in Sociology and Liberal Studies. Her interests lie with documenting contemporary experiences through visual and audio mediums, specifically in how public spaces in cities affect memory and perception for individuals and communities.
Through the UFP, she aims to bridge the gap between urban theory and the reality of urban spaces by picking up various skills and practical solutions to real-world issues.
Sham Lal
Sham Lal is from Nahan, Himachal Pradesh with a disciplinary background in the Humanities. His interest lies in exploring the idea of social justice in the context of higher education. He is keen to learn intersectional methods to understand the conflict and complexities related to various identities in urban spaces. In the UFP, he plans to learn various methods and skills that will equip him for his PhD track and career trajectory.
Shital Sangewar
Shital Sangewar is from Sawar in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. She has previously worked on a biofuel project and she aims to focus her work on elevating women’s socioeconomic status in rural areas and those moving to the cities where women do not find semi-skilled or unskilled work as easily as men. In the UFP. She plans to study various aspects of the city and build a career in the sustainable development sector.
Sneha
Sneha is from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh with academic and professional training in journalism. Her interest lies in understanding the intersection of climate change, governance and policy issues and their impact on people’s lives. She wants to explore how these issues can be communicated to a larger audience in an impactful way.
In the UFP, she aims to expand on these themes along with labour, informality and ecology as she builds her career to be a reporter or academic researcher.
Vaishnavi Patil
Vaishnavi Patil is from Mumbai, Maharashtra with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master’s Global Studies from Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. Her interest lies in ensuring spatial and environmental justice for marginalised communities through multidisciplinary methods, specifically storytelling. Through the UFP, she will be able to identify and analyse core issues in urban political ecology as she aims to build a network of diverse professionals driven towards institutionalisation of spatial equity.
Zakeeya Abbas
Zakeeya Abbas is from Hyderabad, Telangana with a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities. Her interest lies in history through the multiplicity of narratives and overlapping experiences. Urban environments and the evolution of cities fascinates her. Through the UFP, she aims to get trained in various themes across the urban and build a career trajectory.