meet our team – Transform

Jo Krishnakumar / Producer

Jo (they/them) is a trans queer researcher interested in all things sex, sexuality, gender and how different groups/people experience these wor(l)ds. Their work is informed by their constant learning/unlearning of the privileges they have due to their social location as a dominant/oppressive caste person (Nair) while also occupying space as a (mentally) disabled trans person of colour.

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Bani Madan / Web Developer

Bani (they/them) is a nerd by choice and an engineer by mistake. They're a web developer who is interested in projects that deal with mental health, intersectionality and being queer/queerness.

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Rhea Kotrashetti / RESEARCHER

Rhea (she/her) is a budding researcher, sociologist and writer, her research work has primarily been based on trauma narrative, marginalised identities and communities, and housing sustainability. She is passionate about decolonizing sociology, conflict resolution and everyday acts of resistance. Her research interests are a combination of intersectional dalit eco-feminism, sustainability practices, and queer and wilding theory among others.

Divya MAHAtme / RESEARCHER

Divya (they/them) is a trans queer jack of all trades. They are a sociologist-anthropologist by training, a pastry chef by profession, and a full-time cat parent. As a mentally sick person from an oppressive caste location, they are interested in engaging with critiques of capitalism intersecting with caste, class and queerness. They love having spirited conversations on all things socio-political over a home-cooked meal.

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Mrinalini Godara / Producer

Mrinalini (she/they) is a queer designer, illustrator, and researcher who routinely takes up awareness and access-oriented developmental sector projects centring women's and LGBTQIA+ voices. She benefits from caste, gender and able-bodied privilege, which she is learning to dismantle and employ in creating a safer and increasingly equitable world through her work and interactions.

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VIBHAVARI DESAI / RESEARCH coordinator

Vibhavari (she/her) is a writer, and a proponent of open-access and citizen-science movements. Her interests are wide but are united by questions of memory, identity, and belonging, by who/what is left out and behind. She loves her cat, dad jokes, the Internet Archive, @VitaVirginiaBot, and literary memes.

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Radha "Sambhavi" Varadarajan / RESEARCHER

Sambhavi (they/them) is a philomath and transdisciplinary researcher interested in everything that is or can be made queer in South India. Heliophile, wildean protégé and a true chaotic good, they spend their free time reading many books, drinking many cups of chai, and intentionally misspelling french words as an act of feminist praxis.

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sumitra sunder / RESEARCHER

Sumitra (they/them) is a researcher and curator based in Bangalore. Their professional experience has included a decade of consulting with Museums and Education Institutions across the country. Outside of this, they are also a writer with publications that comment on contemporary art in India. They spend the remainder of their time learning to relax - as recommended by their therapist.

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our alumni

Aiman Shaikh / Researcher

Aiman (they/he/she) is a psychologist by day and sociologist by night, constantly trying to tie the loose ends of the two disciplines with each other. Their area of interest is feminist theory and research, mental health, social justice, discrimination, mental justice and how various (oppressive and oppressing) societal structures influence people's mental health.

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Chayanika Iyer / Researcher

Chayanika (they/them) has been working at the intersections of trauma, culture, disability, gender, art, and resistance with various organisations since 2018. They find themselves wanting to figure out what it means to occupy, negotiate with, and build access to spaces for everyone. They like to spend their time off being scratched by their cat.

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shway / RESEARCHER

Shway (she/he/they) is a Dalit trans writer who’s been part of the diasporic South Asian community growing up, but now working and traveling within India. They write about gender and sexuality and currently working on spirituality and gender. They are also a bodywork practitioner in TCM, although they haven’t been able to use these skills much since the pandemic. Shway loves music, most things sweet, and the sun.

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sara bardhan / Researcer

Sara (they/them) is a multidisciplinary feminist researcher working at the intersection of gender, labour, tech and urban studies. In their free time, you can catch them learning a new language, devouring a Manto short story or taking pictures of their cat.

shrush / RESEARCHER

Shrushti (they/them) is a graduate in literary and cultural studies interested in understanding social exclusion as a result of gender and caste. They do freelance editing and have previously worked as a researcher on projects in the fields of art and culture in India and environmental conservation. You will find them in search of sunny spots to laze in alongside their furry pal, Sam.

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