“An Odious Class
of Offences”
How colonial criminal law helped construct the morality it claimed to reflect.
Read the revised paper ↗RESEARCHER. ORGANISER. BUILDER. PAINTER.
MAKE ROOM.
MOVE MINDS.
I’m Ishaan. I bridge liberal ideas
and conservative cultures.
FROM JAIPUR. BUILT WITH PEOPLE, EVERYWHERE.
LIBERAL IDEAS.
LOCAL ROOTS.
LOCAL ROOTS.
BELONGING
IS THE POINT.↗
IS THE POINT.↗
LESS DISTANCE.
MORE CONNECTION.
MORE CONNECTION.
IDEAS → INSTITUTIONS → COMMUNITYKEEP GOING ↓
THE WORK / PICK A THREAD
ONE QUESTION.
MANY WAYS IN.
How do more people get a place in the room?
EVERY THREAD, ON THIS PAGE.
SWAYAM.
THE FOOTPRINT.
A youth-led inclusion network.
Local partners. Shared purpose. Real reach.
PROGRAMME-WIDE ESTIMATES / OCTOBER 2026
01 / ON THE GROUND
THE LAW.
THE STREET.
THE BRIDGE.
Move the institution. Reach the room.
Pick a place to see how the work happens.
THE WORK, UP CLOSE
ONE CITY.
THEN ANOTHER.
Six moments across the network.
Choose a city or play the sequence.
SWAYAM / KARACHIMAKE SPACE.
BUILD TRUST.
BUILD TRUST.
300 Pride attendees
~600 at a separate financial-inclusion workshop
01 / 06
FOLLOW THE FOOTPRINT
PACIFIC OCEANINDIAN OCEAN
Selected stories from a 25+ country networkCountry markers used for sensitive locations
The programme behind the footprint. Open a number to see the work behind it. Swayam updates ↗
THE INSTITUTIONAL THREAD
FROM THE ROOM
TO THE INSTITUTION.
03 / INSIDE THE ROOM
START WHERE
THE ROOM IS.
Two rooms. Two approaches. One aim: make acceptance possible.
GLOBAL IDEAS.
LOCAL ROOTS.
WHAT I’M THINKING ABOUT
THE RULE.
THE EXCEPTION.
“An Odious Class
The Exile’s
Inheritance
Safavid contact and the regulation of same-sex conduct in Mughal India.
Read the abstract ↗02 / THE IDEA
I HAD A THEORY.
THEN LIFE
PUSHED BACK.
Organic liberalisation. The theory I built—and the exception that made it personal.
Step 1 of 5
Conceptual model, not a dataset or a prediction.
THEN THE QUESTION CHANGED
PROGRESS.
IN REVERSE?
Realising I was gay turned an abstract interest in progress into a question about my own life.
The original model is a conjecture. Here is the legal history that puts it to the test.
FOLLOW THE RESEARCH ↘SELECT A CASE. OPEN ITS SOURCE.
04 / THE HISTORY BEHIND THE QUESTION
WHO GETS TO
CALL IT TRADITION?
My research asks how institutions construct the norms they claim merely to reflect.
RESEARCH / 2026“An Odious Class
Latest revised manuscript available below
Mentored by Dr Elli Siapkidou, Oxford
“An Odious Class
of Offences”
The Colonial Construction of Sexual Morality in British India
Read the paper ↗Submitted to The Concord Review · 1 August 2026Latest revised manuscript available below
Mentored by Dr Elli Siapkidou, Oxford
OPEN THE ARGUMENT
A FEW LEGAL MILESTONES
OFF THE CLOCK
A DIFFERENT
KIND OF EXPRESSION.
SELECTED ARTWORK
Open any artwork to see it in full.
THE ARCHIVE / START HERE
READ THE
ORIGINALS.
Pick a category. Find the original. Follow the work.
05 / OTHER WAYS I BUILD
MORE WAYS
TO MAKE ROOM.
Projects in financial access, water, youth voice and environmental action. Choose one to explore the work.