Research Constellation: Transitional Spaces, Culture & Media Studies at IDEAS (Office of Interdisciplinary Studies) cordially invites you to a talk by Dr. Siddhi Gyan Pandey, Associate Professor of Economics at the Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Dr. Riddhi Bhandari, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, on the topic Entrepreneurial Dreams and Anxieties: India’s Digital Self-Help Gurus and Their Followers.

The talk will be held on Wednesday, 9th April, at Catalyst T3, Ground Floor, Ratan Jindal Academic Block, from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM. We look forward to your participation in this insightful discussion.

Abstract:
This talk will explore the role of India’s digital self-help gurus (SHGs) in shaping entrepreneurial aspirations amidst economic uncertainty. Drawing on research into SHG content and audience engagement, our work examines how these figures mediate cultural transformation by reframing systemic insecurities as personal challenges, promoting perseverance, and normalizing failure. While they cultivate an entrepreneurial ethos, their messaging also reveals tensions—between aspiration and exclusion, resilience and disillusionment. By analyzing both the SHGs' discourse and their audience’s responses, this talk will unpack the complex interplay of optimism, anxiety, and accountability in India's contemporary self-improvement landscape.

Authors Biography:
Dr. Siddhi Gyan Pandey is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, JNU, where she analyzed social network formation through game-theoretic modelling. She also earned an M.A. and M.Phil. in Economics from JNU and a B.A. in Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University. Her recent research examines the role of digital self-help gurus (SHGs) in shaping entrepreneurial aspirations in India, exploring how they reframe systemic insecurities as personal challenges, normalize failure, and promote resilience while revealing tensions between aspiration and exclusion in the self-improvement landscape.

Dr. Riddhi Bhandari is an anthropologist with interests in studying market dynamics, governance, entrepreneurialism, and aspirations, broadly within the framework of economic reforms. She completed her PhD from American University, Washington, DC, and has been an Adam Smith fellow at the Mercatus Center, George Mason University. Riddhi started teaching in 2017 when she was appointed visiting fellow at the University of Richmond’s Jepson School of Leadership Studies. Currently, she teaches at O.P. Jindal Global University, India, and is co-editor, Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology. In 2023, Riddhi received the Wenner-Gren Foundation’s Global Initiatives Grant to develop a framework for pedagogy of care. Riddhi has published with Research in Economic Anthropology and Journal of South Asian Studies. Currently, she is an affiliated fellow at the Max Weber Forum for South Asian Studies, New Delhi, and is working on her manuscript on tourism entrepreneurship in post-liberalization India.

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