Rinchan Lyall Robert had always wanted to start a college magazine and it’s Stephen King’s fault. “He got his start writing for a college newspaper, which always stuck with me,” she grins.

But when Robert finally stood outside the iconic Venet Hall at Jesus and Mary College, the logistics of compiling, printing and distributing such a magazine felt impossible. Things changed in February 2024 when she first read a friend’s zine and realised a single folded A4 sheet was not nearly as intimidating.

And so the JMC Weakly was born.

She had no drafts ready. The first issue was quickly assembled with poems from friends, a review of Pink Curtain, and when she ran out of ideas for the final page, she added what would soon become the publication’s signature feature—the Editor’s Note. The whole project cost her hours of work every week, but only twenty rupees to print.

“I would skip lunch every Monday and spend the money on printing and giving out my Weakly to anyone interested,” she laughs. “People offered to pay me, but I was just so happy to be doing it.”

Art had always been central to Robert’s life. Raised in Allahabad by a mother determined to keep her children off their phones, she and her siblings grew up painting, sewing and devouring magazines. When she later moved to Mumbai, Robert embraced every extracurricular outlet she could find, even starting a small book club with friends and the support of her English teacher. Years later, things came full circle when she interviewed that same teacher for a Delhi Zine project.

Today Robert is the co-founder of the Delhi Zine Collective, a student-run initiative that designs and distributes zines—essentially miniature magazines—through collaborations with students and organisations. Each issue might contain personal memoirs, whimsical ideas or political reflections, usually selling for no more than twenty-five rupees.

Robert, however, was never interested in making money. “I just loved doing it so much,” she says.

Things began when she showed her fellow quizzer friend Borishan Ghosh an early issue of JMC Weakly. He quickly built a website, and through quizzing networks and word-of-mouth, the simple idea grew into a collaborative publishing project.

From the beginning, the duo decided the money would be put to good use: a base amount to cover printing and fund future issues, with the rest donated to charity. Over time, the collective has raised funds for causes ranging from Palestinian relief to winter clothing drives for children.

Despite the growing magnitude of the project, Robert rarely thinks about its reach. When asked to pick a favourite zine from their expanding catalogue, she hesitates. “They’re all my children,” she laughs. After a moment, she recalls an early essay from The Kabootar Dispatch that explored the author’s relationship with time.

“So many people wrote to us saying they thought they were the only ones who felt that way.”

For Robert, that moment captures the heart of the project —helping people realise they have something worth saying. As she tells participants in their workshops, everyone is secretly a good writer. They just need to give themselves permission to start.

Profiled by: Anjali Paruvvu

Quietly confident and impact-driven, Rucha has learned that great leadership means knowing when to let go, and she’s taking that wisdom straight to Boston Consulting Group.

Success, for Rucha, is not about doing all of it, but about knowing when to let go.

Rucha has an understated confidence when she talks about leadership, and it is refreshing to hear her speak about it without succumbing to the need for control. “Excellence is not about doing all of it yourself,” she says, as if she has learned it from experience. In a world where over-achievement is celebrated, Rucha’s approach is refreshing, to say the least. She believes in showing up every day, trusting your team, and realizing that balance is not about balance but about degrees of it.

Rucha’s journey towards impact-driven work was not something she stumbled upon during college. She has been on this journey for quite some time. She says, “During the pandemic, when things were quiet, I was building passion projects like Moontime and TailorMade. What stuck with me was not the act of giving, but its limitation. Charity is often a stopgap measure, not an actual solution.” While she was uncomfortable with this, she was able to see it more clearly over time. What was once an idea turned into an approach, and then to what can only be described as a business model for impact. What was once an intention turned into a strategy for creating impact.

That shift was not without its pressures. She confesses to moments of panic prior to significant milestones in her life, the kind of which announces its presence unwelcomely and cannot be reasoned with. However, over time, she has been able to analyze failure with great precision, separating what was in her control from what was not. She has been able to de-personalize failure and turn it into something useful.

Perhaps the greatest test of her leadership was when she decided to start a project from scratch. It was not about building something new; it was about building support around an idea that was not yet proven. It was about convincing others to believe in something uncertain. It is an exercise she credits with building her most.

As she prepares to embark upon the next stage of her life with Boston Consulting Group, Rucha finds herself at a juncture where the possibilities feel more expansive than daunting. To her, the idea of being a consultant is not the end goal; it is the next step in the journey of learning. The end goal remains the same: to one day create something of her own in the impact space.

For now, she is content with doing what she has always done: showing up, learning, and trusting that the way will reveal itself as she walks it.

As vibrant as the sunbirds she spots in Lodhi Garden, Saloni Sharma bridges liberal arts and AI, researching human intimacy with technology while making complex ideas beautifully simple.

“Are there sunbirds in Lodhi?”, a query to which Saloni Sharma smiles brightly and nods an affirmative response, exuberating the essence of a sunbird herself – small, bright, colourful, and full of energy. With academic achievements that have remained consistently prestigious and an imperishable curiosity, she is intellect, charm, gentleness, and humility all packed into one person. Someone small with a presence that adds so much colour, much like the sunbirds of Lodhi Garden, where, as the fresh rays of golden hour wrapped around her skin and hair, she expresses, “everything you are doing is contributing to something bigger…whatever I’m doing is real, it has bigger implications. So, that gives me a sense of responsibility.” 

An understanding that humans are not atomic, individualistic beings, but rather all contributors to the universe we live in, in one way or another, is motivation to strive in all endeavours, academic or otherwise, according to Saloni. Her experience in the fields of debating and public speaking has taught her more than simply the art of persuasion and communication. Everybody has those things that they want to do, but the fear of failure and the discomfort of unfamiliarity are paralysing, that is, until one looks at Saloni’s point of view. She reminds those who intend to take up a new project or participate in something that lies outside their comfort zone not to place the weight of expectation of success on their shoulders. “I want to experience it once.” One would want to experience as much as possible in this short yet incredibly cathartic experience called life. So, take every new step as a learning opportunity that is to be hindered neither by the desire for perfection nor the fear of failure.

“[Intellectualism] is something very human, something all of us experience.” Saloni explains that a true “intellectual” is able to explain the most complex topics in the simplest ways. What someone says should resonate with their audience if it is to make an impact. If the information one shares fails to do so, their intellectualism is flawed. Saloni’s statement that intellectualism is conveyed with simplicity stands especially true in her own case, as she displays a deep understanding of philosophy and political theory and can convey it with a great deal of gentleness.

Being the co-founder of AICommons, Saloni has linked liberal arts and technology, connecting sociology and artificial intelligence. Currently pursuing research on AI and intimacy, exploring the emotional dependence and romantic attachment people can develop to their AI bots, Saloni seeks to understand the philosophy behind why people would choose to connect with code over people. “It’s dystopian. It’s sad and scary that it’s happening.” Human beings value organicness and authenticity, which makes Saloni question why and how that can be found in AI bots. Through her research and her ongoing dissertation, she hopes to find answers to these questions. Intelligent and bubbly, and bursting with colour, it is as if a sunbird of Lodhi Garden has epitomised. 

Profiled by: Souparnika

Founder, researcher, and policy thinker, Shivalee Duara is rewriting what undergraduate ambition looks like, leading a consulting venture, ICSSR research, and national competitions all before graduation.

At an age when most are still navigating the complexities of undergraduate life, Shivalee Duara, a B.A. (Hons) Economics student at Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi, has already established herself as a formidable leader in the startup and policy ecosystems. With a current CGPA of 8.69 and ranking within the top 10 of her department, Duara’s academic rigor is matched only by her entrepreneurial drive.

Her most significant venture, YIOS Consulting, was born from a desire to democratize opportunity. As Founder and CEO, she leads a team of 10 associates and over 80 interns, providing strategic, financial, and marketing services to early-stage startups. Under her leadership, YIOS has successfully onboarded and delivered projects for four startups—including two featured on Shark Tank India—such as Cup-Ji, Curve Electric, Rapid Rasoi, and Chainge. Her role as a Project Head and Manager across these ventures has been characterized by “exceptional performance” and “efficient leadership,” ensuring that deliverables ranging from sanitary pad packaging to e-bike rental growth models are met with precision.

Duara’s impact extends deep into the realm of economic research and policy. She currently serves as one of only three students selected for an ICSSR-funded collaborative empirical research project on solar energy deployment pathways. This expertise culminated in her presenting a research paper at the prestigious International Conference on “VISION 2047: PROSPEROUS & GREAT BHARAT,” organized by Swadeshi Shodh Sansthan and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Her professional portfolio is further bolstered by high-stakes internships at premier institutions. At the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), she analyzed bilateral trade relations for Australia, Brazil, and Vietnam, and researched non-tariff barriers impacting Indian tea and textile exports. Similarly, at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), she developed quantitative models to evaluate the Market Access Initiative (MAI) Scheme and an export potential model for Sri Lanka.

Her thought leadership is evidenced by her publications. Duara has authored research papers on agricultural credit, reproductive health laws (MTP Act 2021), and the economic repercussions of the French snap elections, two of which are published in the International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research Review and Studies. She also contributed to the North East Cell’s academic journal at Lady Shri Ram College, highlighting her commitment to her roots.

A National Winner of the “Excelsior 4.0” brand strategy competition by IIM Lucknow and Devyani International, and a Second Runner-Up in the SRCC “Ace the Case” competition, Duara consistently proves her mettle in competitive arenas. From serving as Chairperson of the Global Association of Economics Education (GAEE) India to her role as Joint Secretary of Purvasha at Daulat Ram College, she is not just a student of economics; she is an active participant in shaping its future.

Profiled by: Richa Choudhary