Indian-origin MBA student Anaheez Patel breaks silence after viral clash with billionaire Nikhil Kamath: 'I grew up with privilege...'

An Indian-origin MBA student who went viral for questioning Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath has now spoken out, saying her views on education are shaped by both privilege and lived experience.

Anaheez Patel addressed the backlash and praise in a detailed LinkedIn post, three days after her exchange with Kamath at the India Business Conference sparked a nationwide debate on the value of business degrees.

During the event, Patel directly challenged Kamath over his earlier remarks criticising MBA programmes. “A few months ago, you said if you are 25 and getting your MBA, you must be some kind of idiot,” she said, questioning the contradiction of such a statement being made at a business school gathering. The moment went viral.

Reflecting on the attention, Patel described growing up in a family where education was central. Her father is a marine engineer, her mother a teacher and her sister a paediatric surgeon. She said academics were “non-negotiable”, alongside a packed schedule of extracurricular activities such as debate, drama, music and academic competitions.

“I grew up with a degree of privilege, nothing excessive,” she wrote, addressing assumptions about her background. She explained that access to knowledge defined her upbringing. “Books were never questioned,” she said, noting that even family holidays often included museums and learning experiences. She described herself as “VERY RICH, in that sense of the term.”

Patel also shared a personal example to explain her belief in education. Her family supported their domestic help in educating her daughters, one of whom now holds an MBA and has moved into a better life. “So when I speak about education, it’s not abstract. I’ve seen firsthand what it can do,” she wrote.

She defended her decision to question the billionaire. “I have a spine, and I believe in using it,” she wrote. She criticised “intellectual politeness”; Patel argued that avoiding disagreement does little to improve ideas.

“Respectful (read that again, respectful) disagreement, when grounded in logic, is how better thinking happens,” she added, crediting her upbringing for encouraging open conversations at home.