I was born and brought up in Bihar Sharif, a town in the Nalanda district of Bihar. I completed my schooling there up to Class 12 in 2010. After spending a year in Patna, I joined IIT Kanpur to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Physics, having cleared the JEE. At the time, the only thing I was certain about was that I wasn’t interested in a corporate career—I wanted to stay in academia and research. On the advice of someone wiser, I chose Physics. That year in Patna turned out to be transformative in unexpected ways. While visiting a book fair at Gandhi Maidan—still the largest I’ve seen—a stall owner recommended a book, saying, “At your age, you must read this.” The book was Think on These Things by J. Krishnamurti. It wasn’t expensive, so I bought it on impulse. What followed was a profound shift in how I viewed life. That book introduced me to an entirely new dimension—an inner world of observation, introspection, and inquiry. It awakened in me a curiosity about thought, perception, and the process of understanding itself. Life, ever since, has taken on a deeper meaning.
Before coming to IIT Kanpur, I knew very little about higher education or even what IITK truly represented—but I remained open and curious. Once there, I found myself drawn not only to physics but to a wide range of disciplines. I thoroughly enjoyed attending classes in philosophy, sociology, psychology, literature, biology, modern art, and management sciences. This intellectual freedom exposed me to a rich tapestry of ideas and people—from batchmates and professors to eminent personalities including presidents, scientists, chairpersons, directors, sages, IAS officers, and social workers. Through classes, talks, workshops, student clubs, and the liberty to explore courses across departments, IITK became a vibrant space of learning and transformation for me. Coming from a village and small-town background where education was largely limited to rote memorization, I developed a deep concern for issues such as social change, quality education, and community development. During my undergraduate days at IIT Kanpur, I joined the NSS (National Service Scheme) in my first year, which led me to work closely with Prof. H.C. Verma—an enthusiastic teacher and dedicated social worker, now Padma Shri, who made me believe that education can be fun, engaging, intellectually stimulating, and yet rigorously grounded. It completely blew my mind and transformed my understanding of what learning could truly be. I also volunteered with Prayas, a student-led initiative offering after-school support to children from nearby communities.
At the end of my first year, I was selected as a "Change Agent" for Gramya Manthan, a rural immersion program by Youth Alliance. Inspired by mentors like Prof. H.C. Verma and Ravi Gulati, I, along with my family and friends, later founded an NGO named Ek PAHAL and started a community school in my hometown. However, this journey revealed to me the limitations of modern education—it often distances us from our roots and values, pushing students toward a consumerist, competitive lifestyle. The real purpose of education, I felt, should be to foster self-understanding and nurture meaningful, sustainable contributions to society. In pursuit of this idea, I became deeply interested in Universal Human Values and connected with the Jeevan Vidya group (MS3) in Kanpur. The work in consciousness development through education resonated strongly with my own questions and aspirations, along with what I was seeing in society - increasing stress/unhappiness in individuals,
After completing my Integrated BS-MS in Physics at IIT Kanpur, I spent a year working as a Project Associate at SCDT, IIT Kanpur, while continuing to explore my interests. I then joined the Ph.D. program in the Department of Physics at IIT Kanpur, where I aimed to deepen my understanding of Madhyasth Darshan (a philosophy of co-existence) alongside my research and community engagement efforts. In 2022, during my Ph.D., I married my school friend Kumari Neha—now my wife, friend, and life partner. Recently, on 26th February 2025, we were blessed with a baby daughter, whose name we are currently pondering with joy and anticipation.
My journey toward living a conscious and meaningful life eventually deepens my interest in the field of consciousness studies as well, which I believe holds the key to addressing many of the existential challenges humanity faces today.