Varnika is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Communication Studies, specializing in postcolonial and decolonial perspectives on Caste and the Caste based organization of public spaces. Her work examines how categories shape premediated thought and, in turn, human behavior (Beside phylogeny and ontogeny stands sociogeny; Fanon, 1952). She is particularly interested in qualitative field methods in rhetorical theory as a way to engage with the everyday social. She holds a master’s degree in media and cultural studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Delhi. She has also worked with development sector consultancies and collaborated on natural resource management projects, experiences that inform her interest in how research can engage questions of social organization in practice.