Best Ajay Singh Podcasts (2025)

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Ep 432: Vasant Dhar's Lifetime in Artificial Intelligence 3:27:40

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1d ago3:27:40

3:27:40

He's been working in AI since the late 1970s, and started a pioneering machine learning hedge fund in the 1990s. Now he's a professor, a podcaster, a Substacker, a yoda -- and has just written a cracking book on the subject. Vasant Dhar joins Amit Varma in episode 432 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the life and times of AI through the life a…

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Beyond the Hype: Practical AI insights from Elastic with Ajay Nair 17:14

15d ago17:14

17:14

In this episode we talk with Ajay Nair, General Manager - Platforms, Elastic, about enterprises building their business with AI. 00:00 - Introduction. 01:00 - Generative AI as a data problem. 05:18 - Driving value with AI. 09:00 - The problem of fragmentation. 11:07 - Regions and AI adoption. 14:10 - Thoughts on the developer community in India. Su…

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Ep 431: Ghazala Wahab and the Hindi Heartland 3:39:18

12d ago3:39:18

3:39:18

Our Hindi Heartland has more people than the USA and Western Europe combined -- and is arguably more diverse. Ghazala Wahab joins Amit Varma in episode 431 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe her research into those states -- and much else, including being an outspoken Muslim woman in India, and the future of warfare. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES…

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Ep 430: Aneesh Pradhan: A Life in Hindustani Music 4:46:03

26d ago4:46:03

4:46:03

When it comes to Hindustani music, he is both a doer and a thinker. A great tabla player, he has written books about the history and theory of music. Aneesh Pradhan joins Amit Varma in episode 430 of The Seen and the Unseen to chat about his life, his music and this world we inhabit. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out…

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(Pop) Cultural Marxism, Episode 19: Ghost of Yotei - A Specter is Haunting Ezo 2:51:45

1M ago2:51:45

2:51:45

In episode 19 of (Pop) Cultural Marxism, Isi and Ajay are joined by fellow BISR faculty Joseph Earl Thomas to discuss Ghost of Yotei, Sucker Punch Productions' much-anticipated sequel to Ghost of Tsushima. To kick off the episode, Isi and Ajay chat about recent cultural news and highlights, from the Japanese government calling on OpenAI to refrain …

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Ep 429: Rudraneil Sengupta is Embedded 3:25:58

1M ago3:25:58

3:25:58

He wrote the definitive history of Indian wrestling. His longform reportage has taken him into strange territories. He embedded himself with the Delhi police and has now come out with his first crime novel. Rudraneil Sengupta joins Amit Varma in episode 429 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about he throws himself into both his life and his work. …

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Forging the Future with Elastic: Agentic AI and the Power of Contextual Search 17:25

2M ago17:25

17:25

In this episode of theUpStreamLife we talk with Baha Azarmi, the global VP, Customer Engineering, Elastic about new developments at the company. We unlock the power of Elastic's technology for corporations and how it plays a major role in the era of AI. 00:00 - Introduction 01:09 - Roadmap to innovation at Elastic 03:00 - Being relevant in the era …

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Ep 428: The Solitary Writer Meets the Impossible Man 4:24:26

2M ago4:24:26

4:24:26

Writing biographies is solitary and difficult -- even when the subject is way more interesting than anything you could make up. Narayani Basu joins Amit Varma in episode 428 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss writing, friendship, hustling, ageing, intentionality and the subject of her latest book, the impossible KM Panikkar. (FOR FULL LINKED SHO…

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After funding 200 plus companies, why 247VC's Shashank believes in India's future is in deep tech 1:05:21

2M ago1:05:21

1:05:21

In this episode I meet with ace seed stage and Series-A investor Shashank Randev, the founder of 247VC. He talks about about how India is changing its outlook towards deep tech and consumer businesses. He talks about all things that will continue to make India rise over the next decade. 00:00 - Introduction to the episode in BHive. 02:53 - 247VC an…

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Phyx44 & the happy cow: the recombinant milk based protein alternative for a sustainable future 19:31

2M ago19:31

19:31

In this episode Ideaspring Capital's founder Naganand talks with Bharath Bakkaraju, the founder of Phyx44, a company manufacturing recombinant protein. They are a deep tech company that is figuring out the alternative to milk and the emission caused by dairy cattle. The numbers are stark and you have to listen to this conversation to understand why…

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Ep 427: The Boy Who Loved Cricket -- The Vijay Lokapally Story 3:41:11

2M ago3:41:11

3:41:11

Cricket isn't just what happens across 22 yards, and great cricket writers always go beyond the boundary. Vijay Lokapally joins Amit Varma in episode 427 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the joys and heartbreaks of a lifetime of writing about cricket -- and much else. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Vijay …

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(Pop) Cultural Marxism, Episode 18: I Don't Know What You Did Last Summer 2:30:02

2M ago2:30:02

2:30:02

In episode 18 of (Pop) Cultural Marxism, Isi and Ajay spend some time with a handful of big news items at the intersection of politics and media—from the Skydance-Paramount merger (and other instances of media market concentration) and its implications for American newsmedia (and its potential new gatekeepers); to Charlie Kirk's assassination, its …

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Why this tech investor wants to make farmers his partners while acquiring land for development 29:48

2M ago29:48

29:48

In this episode I talk with Bhavdeep Reddy, angel investor in several companies and founder of Access Developers. In this four decade career he has seen it all - from the rise of #ITservices to #cloudcomputing to #ai. What has remained constant in this rise is the growth of cities and development. Bhavdeep, also known as Bobby, talks about growth t…

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War to deploy LLMs in enterprises is wide open, adoption of GPTs require experts - Arun of Articul8 58:42

3M ago58:42

58:42

In this episode we talk to Arun, the founder of Articul8, an LLM company that focuses on building models specifically trained for enterprise scale and security. Learn a lot more about the AI wars in this episode, which is similar to the cloud wars that began more than a decade ago between AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. This time around star…

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Ep 426: The Life and Music of Shubha Mudgal 4:45:55

3M ago4:45:55

4:45:55

She's straddled the worlds of Hindustani classical and popular music, and is a legend in both spaces. Shubha Mudgal joins Amit Varma in episode 426 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss her life, her music and this changing world. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Shubha Mudgal on Spotify, Instagram, Twitter, Wik…

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Ep 425: The Life and Times of Gurcharan Das 7:54:14

3M ago7:54:14

7:54:14

He reached the top of the corporate world -- and then gave it up to become a writer, with books that probed our deepest questions, and influenced millions of people. Gurcharan Das joins Amit Varma in episode 425 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his life and learnings. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Gurcha…

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Tarnishing India Targeting Diaspora Hindus The Weaponization of Transnational Repression Narrative Against India 22:44

4M ago22:44

22:44

We systematically analyze how the Transnational Repression narrative has been used agains Indian diaspora and Hindus globally. It is yet another attempt breaking ties of the diaspora with India and creating Mentioned in this episode: HinduLounge CoC Intro No VHPA No HostBy Ajay Shah

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Ep 424: Gitanjali Babbar and the Didis of GB Road 3:55:28

4M ago3:55:28

3:55:28

Trained as a journalist, but driven by a desire to make a difference, she spent over a decade working with sex workers in Delhi to understand and improve their lives. Gitanjali Babbar joins Amit Varma in episode 424 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss her learnings about GB Road -- and our strange and twisted society. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES,…

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Story of consumption & Indian brands until 2040 - conversation with Vinay Singh of Fireside Ventures 49:34

4M ago49:34

49:34

In this episode we talk to Vinay Singh, the co-founder and Partner at Fireside Ventures. Vinay's Venture Capital firm has bet on Indian brands even before the world believed that India can be capable of building long term brands. They got their thesis right by betting on companies that defined India's aspiring consumers. India is ripe for growth, i…

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Deep tech's success is a key to a sustainable future - Social Alpha's founder Manoj Kumar 1:02:20

4M ago1:02:20

1:02:20

In this episode we talk with Manoj Kumar, the founder of deep tech venture building foundation Social Alpha. This venture development platform started as a passion project but overtime it has helped over 350 startups. The model of Social Alphas unique as in it works with foundations to achieve their deep tech goals. Enjoy the interview. 00:00 - Int…

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Ep 423: Minar Pimple's Life in Social Work 9:24:54

4M ago9:24:54

9:24:54

He founded the iconic organisation Yuva 50 years ago when he was in his early 20s, pioneered social work in India, and went on to drive change for the UN and Amnesty. Minar Pimple joins Amit Varma in episode 423 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his life, his learnings and the ceaseless tumult in our society. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO …

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Ep 422: The Past and Present of Cricket 3:00:19

5M ago3:00:19

3:00:19

Cricket is the most unusual of games with the most unusual of histories -- which can reveal so much about our society and our times. Tim Wigmore joins Amit Varma in episode 422 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the history of Test cricket -- and how the game is changing today. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1…

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India's fastest growing chronic pain management device, the journey of Litemed and its founders 28:51

5M ago28:51

28:51

In this episode Naganand Doraswamy of Ideaspring Capital talks to Litemed founders about pain management devices and their efficacy. 00:00 - Introduction to Litemed 00:33 - What does Litemed do? 02:58 - Building a device for pain management and the science of it. 08:14 - Litemed's go-to-market strategy. 12:39 - Innovative marketing of Litemed. 15:5…

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The journey of Jay Modh's "Intuitive" - AI led business in North America & startup investments 43:18

5M ago43:18

43:18

In this episode of theUpStreamLife we talk with Jay Modh, serial entrepreneur and startup investor. 00:00 - Introduction 01:35 - Transformation with Intuitive 04:44 - Companies that need to innovate fast. 09:40 - Acceleration versus stagnation. 14:47 - Buying habits from clients and what is changing. 23:00 - Why India is changing fast 25:00 - Kids …

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Ep 421: Ira Mukhoty's Quest for Unseen Histories 6:04:22

5M ago6:04:22

6:04:22

Too much of our history is looked at through either a colonial lens or a patriarchal one. Ira Mukhoty joins Amit Varma in episode 421 of The Seen and the Unseen to share her gaze on India's history, and all that it has taught her. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Ira Mukhoty on Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads and …

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(Pop) Cultural Marxism, Episode 17: I Have Friends Everywhere 2:02:19

5M ago2:02:19

2:02:19

In episode 17 of (Pop) Cultural Marxism, Ajay and Isi once again find themselves in the regrettable position of praising the Walt Disney Company. After chatting about recent cultural highlights (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a 40th anniversary screening of Kurosawa's Ran, and a Criterion retrospective on Johnnie To), they consider the popular and cr…

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Hindutva and the American Dream: Response to Hindutva in America report by Rutgers 50:23

5M ago50:23

50:23

Hindutva and the America Dream: A Case for Inclusion and Representation – A Critical Review to the Report ‘Hindutva in America: An Ethnonationalist Threat to Equality and Religious Pluralism'”By Ajay Shah

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Ep 420: Siddhartha Basu Is in the Hot Seat 4:10:06

6M ago4:10:06

4:10:06

Circumstance made him a legend of the quizzing world, but Siddhartha Basu is a man of many parts. He joins Amit Varma in episode 420 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about life, India, the art of asking questions and the answers he has found. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Siddhartha Basu on Wikipedia, Twitt…

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Indian equities, India's rise, Trumpeting Empire, future - thoughts from Bruce Keith of InvestorAi 1:23:54

6M ago1:23:54

1:23:54

In this episode we talk to Bruce Keith, the co-founder of InvestorAi, a systematic investing platform. 00:00 - Introduction to the episode. 01:00 - Bruce Keith and India. 02:00 - India's demographic dividend and its advantage. 03:00 - Fund management globally and in India. 05:00 - Indian mindset and the U.S mindset in equities investment. 07:00 - I…

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The way we drink water, subscription & access to clean H2O for working India: the DrinkPrime Story 56:34

6M ago56:34

56:34

In this episode we catch up with Manas Ranjan, the co-founder of DrinkPrime, who tells us about how India is subscribing to his company's services. The access to clean drinking water and its narrative is something that he explains to us eloquently. Lets us find out India's working class and water narratives mean for us. 00:00 - Introduction. 01:54 …

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Ep 419: India's MSME Landscape -- Some Useful Frameworks 4:40:23

6M ago4:40:23

4:40:23

Firms are the means of economic progress. India's micro, small and medium enterprises have been hobbled for decades, and flounder even today. Sudhir Sarnobat and Narendra Shenoy join Amit Varma in episode 419 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss this landscape -- and Sudhir's brilliant new venture that aims to tackle this. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NO…

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A platform for creators to own their data & monetise their videos: the story of Skara 35:40

6M ago35:40

35:40

In this episode we talk with Udippta Das, the founding team member and head of product development at Skara. The startup is founded in Guwahati, Assam. Udippta talks about why this technology enables Indian creators to make more money than share it with third party distribution apps. 00:00 - Introduction 02:20 - The inspiration behind Skara 07:04 -…

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Numocity - India's leading EV network management startup wins big with global contracts 30:09

7M ago30:09

30:09

In this episode of theUpStreamLife we talk with the founders of Numocity. Ideaspring's founder Naganand Doraswamy talks to the Numocity founders Ravi and Siddharth about their global play. 00:00 - Introduction 00:52 - From early stage to success. 02:50 - EV is mainstream. 06:02 - EV market in five years. 10:22 - Robustness of the Numocity tech stac…

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Ep 418: What Just Happened Between India & Pakistan? 2:29:46

7M ago2:29:46

2:29:46

Why did the attacks in Pahalgam happen? What took place in the skirmishes after that? What have we learnt about geopolitics and our military preparedness? Pranay Kotasthane and Aditya Ramanathan join Amit Varma in episode 418 of The Seen and the Unseen to try to clear some of the fog of war. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also c…

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How Xander Black Helps Creators Fund Their Work Through Artizen’s XR Film Fund | #34 33:25

7M ago33:25

33:25

In this episode of Eat. Sleep. Immerse. Repeat., Xander Black—actor turned immersive advocate and program lead of the XR Film Fund on Artizen—shares his path into the world of 360° filmmaking and funding for immersive creators. We explore how discovering 360 video in acting school sparked his interest in immersive storytelling, and how that journey…

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Ep 417: Caste and the Census 2:15:39

7M ago2:15:39

2:15:39

Data is apolitical and always useful, right? Then why is the caste census so controversial? Pranay Kotasthane and Raghu S Jaitley join Amit Varma in episode 417 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss its history, context and implications. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Pranay Kotasthane on Twitter, LinkedIn, Am…

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How Daniel Grozdanov Went from 360° Travel Creator to Launching Imagine360 | #33 30:36

7M ago30:36

30:36

Daniel Grozdanov, founder of Imagine360, joins Eat. Sleep. Immerse. Repeat. to share how he went from traveling the world as a 360° content creator for resorts to building a thriving immersive marketing agency. We talk about creating on the go, growing a client base, and the future of 360° storytelling. Imagine360 Daniel's LinkedIn Music from #Uppb…

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Ep 416: Kavitha Rao Chases Chatto and Roy 2:55:15

7M ago2:55:15

2:55:15

The most astonishing men lie in the far, forgotten corners of history. Kavitha Rao joins Amit Varma in episode 416 of The Seen and the Unseen to shed light on the life and times of two magnificent failures, Chatto and Roy. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Kavitha Rao on Twitter, Instagram, Amazon and her own web…

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(Pop) Cultural Marxism, Episode 16: Shine Bright Like a TIE Fighter 1:52:47

7M ago1:52:47

1:52:47

In episode 16 of (Pop) Cultural Marxism, Isi and Ajay discuss the return of Tony Gilroy's Andor. Before departing for a galaxy far, far away, they stop by the world of gaming to chat about Hazelight Studio's latest co-op title, Split Fiction, and the impact of Trump's tariffs on the rollout of Nintendo's Switch 2. Turning to the first three episode…

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Creating an AR Vehicle: Design, Tech & Storytelling with Jeff Smith & Steve Petersen | #32 27:53

8M ago27:53

27:53

In this episode of Eat. Sleep. Immerse. Repeat., I chat with Jeff Smith and Steve Peterson, the creative minds behind Chronocraft — a groundbreaking AR vehicle that transports passengers through the real world while magically transforming the view outside. We dive into the inspiration, tech, and future of this one-of-a-kind immersive experience. We…

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Ep 415: Ramki and the Ocean of Stories 4:49:24

8M ago4:49:24

4:49:24

He observed our society from up close as an advertising man -- and then became an iconic storyteller on Twitter. Ramakrishna Desiraju aka Ramki joins Amit Varma in episode 415 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his journey, and all that it taught him. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Ramakrishna Desiraju a…

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Algorithms, AI & technology buying in Indian banks: in conversation with Scienaptic Systems 58:44

8M ago58:44

58:44

In this episode we speak with Joydip Gupta who is the APAC head of Scienaptic Systems. Joydip talks about the evolution of the business rule engine in banking and how algorithms today are intelligent to understand an individual's banking needs faster than in the past. Algorithms today allow a risk officer's team to look at the credit history of an …

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Solo VR Filmmaking: How Tomis Fras Creates Immersive Stories Independently | #31 31:04

8M ago31:04

31:04

In this episode of Eat. Sleep. Immerse. Repeat., I chat with 3D animator and VR developer Tomis Fras about his self-taught journey into animation and immersive storytelling. Tomis' Website - Art | Tomisfras Tomis' Instagram - Tomis Fras (@tomis_fras) • Instagram photos and videos Tomis' LinkedIn - (3) Tomis Fras | LinkedIn Music from #Uppbeat (free…

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Ep 414 : The Spectacular Life of Prahlad Kakar 3:37:11

8M ago3:37:11

3:37:11

He learnt his craft from Shyam Benegal, became a pioneer & a legend of advertising filmmaking, learnt & taught scuba diving, started the Prithvi Cafe, and lived every moment to the full in a million different ways. Prahlad Kakar joins Amit Varma in episode 414 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his long and wondrous life. (FOR FULL LINKED SHO…

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(Pop) Cultural Marxism, Episode 15: Vampires! 2:30:38

9M ago2:30:38

2:30:38

In episode 15 of (Pop) Cultural Marxism, Ajay, Isi, and Joseph explore vampires in media, across genre and time! Welcoming back Joseph after a few episodes away, the episode kicks off with a games roundtable on Monster Hunter: Wilds (Capcom, 2025) and Pentiment (Obsidian, 2022), among other things. Then the group quickly dives into all things vampi…

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Ep 413: Shaheen Mistri Goes to School 3:12:53

9M ago3:12:53

3:12:53

One of India's tragedies lies in the schooling of our children. We have let our kids down. Can we fix this problem? Shaheen Mistri joins Amit Varma in episode 413 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe her journey -- and what she has learnt about education. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Shaheen Mistri on Inst…