Varanasi to Paris, where I live now

By way of Dehradun, Johannesburg, Le Havre, Tel Aviv and Stanford.

  1. I · 2001–2010

    Banarasi Boy

    “Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.”
    Mark Twain, Following the Equator, 1897

    I was lucky to be born in Varanasi, one of the oldest living cities in the world. Its narrow lanes and stone steps down to the Ganges, its temples and culture, taught me before any school did. You can take the boy out of Banaras, but not Banaras out of the boy.

    1. 27 October 2001

      Born in Varanasi

    2. 2007

      Taare Zameen Par

      A film about a boy whose mind works differently. It was my story too, and the people around me began to see it. My mother still cries every time she watches it.

    3. Around 2009

      First small business

      Sold my Barrel-O-Slime to a classmate for ten rupees more than I paid. Learnt arbitrage before I knew the word.

    4. 2010

      The accident

      Dad was badly hurt. An uncle visiting him suggested boarding school for me, and somehow Mom convinced my grandfather.

  2. II · 2011–2020

    The Welham Decade

    Ten years at a boarding school in the Himalayan foothills. Went in a boy, left a young man.

    1. 1 April 2011

      Dehradun

      Joined Welham Boys' School

    2. 2016

      New York, Boston, Washington DC

      Harvard MUN

      My first time outside India. I came home with dreams bigger than the skyscrapers.

    3. 2018

      Johannesburg

      School exchange

      Two months at a school in Johannesburg, living with host families.

    4. August 2019

      Last MUNs, debates and quizzes

      Where I learnt to think on my feet. Then training season was over.

    5. March 2020

      Graduated

      The month India locked down.

    From their letters

    “…Naman’s outstanding initiatives have been a constant source of inspiration extending across the world from Varanasi to South Africa. He is indeed a true global ambassador for the school and is known for his interpersonal and communication skills. His social work is particularly commendable and has instilled a lasting sense of empathy in him…”
    Kiran TripathiHead of Department, Humanities, Welham Boys' SchoolMy political science teacher
    “…Academically, he has a distinct way of thinking, evaluating and arriving at a chosen answer – always offering different ways to solve quantitative problems in economics. His understanding for economics goes way beyond the requirements of the school curriculum…”
    Dayamay BanerjeeSenior School Coordinator, Welham Boys' SchoolMy economics teacher

  3. III · 2020

    Lockdown

    India locked down and the world felt hopeless. Sitting it out was never an option. What began with a few friends and some food grew far beyond us.

    1. April to August

      Covid-19 food drive

      Started with friends; more organisations joined. It reached eleven million meals for eighty thousand families, with PepsiCo and Niine among the sponsors.

    2. May

      London, remote

      yhangry, by cold email

      My first time inside a startup. Learnt how one works, and fell in love with Notion. yhangry later went on to join Y Combinator.

    From their letters

    “…It was really heartening to see how your entire team under your able leadership went beyond their normal call of duty to make this programme a huge success. It was due to your efforts that not only the programme picked up momentum in Varanasi, but others were inspired to put their best foot forward too…”
    Viraj ChouhanChief Government Affairs & Communications Officer, PepsiCo
    “…It was promising to see how your team devoted and supported enthusiastically and made it a success. We would like to appreciate the efforts taken by the team working under your supervision for the commendable support during the campaign…”
    Amar TulsiyanFounder and Chairman, Niine

  4. IV · 2020–2022

    The Harbour

    At eighteen, I left India for a port city on the Normandy coast, on a scholarship to Sciences Po.

    1. September 2020

      Le Havre

      Sciences Po

      A Bachelor's in Politics and Government, with a minor in law, on the Émile Boutmy Scholarship.

    2. February 2021

      Elected to the students' office

      Secretary of the the student union.

    3. June 2021

      Mumbai

      BIC Cello

      Learnt marketing at the Indian arm of a French company, especially the nuances of selling online.

    From their letters

    “…Naman’s impressive academic abilities are complemented by his enthusiastic commitment to fostering a supportive and inclusive community. He was elected as the Secretary of Bureau des Elèves, the student body at Sciences Po Paris, where he gained a reputation among students for his empathetic nature, respectful demeanour, and dynamic personality… add to this his language proficiency, cultural awareness, emotional intelligence and integrity…”
    Dr Emilija Pundziūtė GalloisFormer Lithuanian diplomat & Professor, Sciences Po ParisMy diplomacy professor

  5. V · 2022–2023

    Three Seas

    A year of three seas: a port on the Channel, a UN climate conference on the Red Sea, and a university on the Mediterranean.

    1. April

      Le Havre Port Center

      Interned on the recommendation of my professor, Vice-Admiral Anne Cullerre. Learnt the geopolitics of the sea and turned it into a learning programme.

    2. June

      Global Alliance of Universities on Climate

      Joined the Climate X pilot programme out of curiosity. Proposed a platform to democratise green bonds, which gained recognition from academics, policymakers and the press.

    3. July to October

      PurpleBlue House

      A creative studio. Worked on everything from a unique journal for a sweet shop founded in 1957 to campaigns for the India Global Forum. Learnt that every brand, however old or new, is selling a story.

    4. October 2022 to July 2023

      Israel

      Exchange at Reichman University

      Explored Israel and Palestine, and took every class I could fit in. Free education is not to be wasted.

    5. November

      Sharm El-Sheikh

      COP27

      One of 14 Global Youth Ambassadors chosen by the alliance, whose members include MIT, Tsinghua, Oxford, Columbia, Yale and Sciences Po; the youngest, and the only Indian. Mentored the next delegation at COP28 in the UAE, then represented the alliance on the Children and Youth Steering Committee at later COPs and global forums.

      Read the story →
      Front page of The Times of India, 3 November 2022, with the story headlined Varanasi youth, 21, to attend 27th UN climate conference in Egypt
      The Times of India, front page, 3 November 2022

    From their letters

    “…I am particularly impressed with Naman’s high level of agency. He possesses an innate drive to take action and make things happen. He is not content with simply observing and commenting on the world around him. Instead, he seeks out opportunities to apply them in real-world situations…”
    Dr Meir JavedanfarProfessor, Reichman University

  6. VI · 2023–2024

    Election Year

    Three campaigns, in the year India voted.

    1. September 2023 to August 2024

      Three electoral campaigns

      For the Prime Minister of India, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan and YSRCP's National General Secretary, including compliance with election law on spending and disclosure. Worked closely with ministers including Dr S. Jaishankar and Piyush Goyal.

  7. VII · 2024–2025

    The Master's

    Back to Paris, this time to study law.

    1. September

      Paris

      Master's in Economic Law, Sciences Po

  8. VIII · 2025

    Overlord

    A legal-tech startup in Paris. I was the seventh person on the team.

    1. May 2025

      Paris

      Founder's office

      Joined as an intern. No fixed scope: whatever the founder needed to move faster, I owned.

    2. August 2025

      Into the deals

      From the founder's office to buying companies, starting with French business media: Le Revenu, Le Nouvel Economiste and the titles that became Overlord Media.

  9. IX · 2026

    Stanford

    A place of surreal contrasts: Sam Altman and Jensen Huang on the engineering quad, Roger Federer on the tennis courts, a robot dog carrying someone's lunch.

    1. Stanford, California

      Stanford Law School

      Selected by Sciences Po's law school to study with the advanced degree cohort, with classes across the GSB, Engineering and Sustainability, while working for Overlord from campus.

      Naman sitting on the Stanford Law School sign
      Stanford Law School

    2. Spring

      Lazarus

      Built at Stanford as Overlord's internal deal radar: it reads French court data to find distressed companies. Now its own venture, free for anyone to use.

      See Lazarus →

  10. X · 2026

    Back to Paris

    Back to Overlord, now more than 120 people.

    1. May 2026

      Paris

      Head of M&A and Post-Merger Integration

      Building AI-native groups of companies, one sector at a time. Saving French companies and jobs, and turning them into businesses of the future.

    2. 4 October

      Legible

      Built a legal AI harness in 12 hours with four others. Won the Legora Challenge at the Stanford × Mistral Hackathon.

      See Legible →

    3. 11 October

      Groupe Lazarus

      Overlord named its private equity fund Lazarus, after the tool that started it all. The aim over ten years: take over 500 French companies, save 5,000 jobs and create 5,000 more.

      See Groupe Lazarus →

    4. 27 October

      Field Notes

      Frontline observations on building scalable systems across code, capital and compliance. Launching on my 25th birthday.

      Field Notes

      One idea, one reading, one question, every Wednesday. Plus longer Field Notes, roughly monthly.

      Launching in 14 days. Be one of the first readers.