Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath recently shared an Instagram post after watching tech millionaire Bryan Johnson––known for his biohacking initiatives––walk out of brother Nikhil Kamath’s "WTF is" podcast. Johnson, who is known for his anti-aging research, exited the interview over poor air quality in the area where the shoot was held—despite there being an air purifier in the room. Reflecting on the incident, Nithin admitted he used to think Delhi was the only Indian city struggling with air pollution, and that too, during winter season. But Johnson's reaction while recording the podcast in a sea-facing Bandra apartment in Mumbai changed his perspective. "The AQI was a whopping 160+. If the air quality is this bad in Bandra, imagine how much worse it must be in the more crowded parts of the city," he wrote in the carousel post. Curious to see how other cities compared, he checked the AQI levels outside Zerodha’s office in Bengaluru, which is in a relatively quiet part of the city. "I was shocked to see it reading 120+. Again, imagine how much worse it might be in the busier parts of the city. What makes matters trickier in Bengaluru is the dust from the ongoing construction boom and poor roads," he wrote. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nithin Kamath (@nithinkamath) Comparing this situation in India to air quality in the United States of America and Europe, he pointed out that most cities there have an AQI below 50. He also raised concerns about the long-term health risks of breathing polluted air daily, from lung damage and cardiovascular diseases to weakened immunity, and even cancer. "We seem to have gotten used to the fact that air pollution is just a part of life, and we are okay with breathing low-quality air," he wrote. Taking his argument a step further, Nithin suggested that real estate prices in India should be directly proportional to AQI levels. "The higher the AQI, the lower the real estate prices should be. After all, by living in such areas, you are accepting higher odds of respiratory ailments, cancer," he said in the post. In the post, Nithin also urged researchers studying the impact of AQI on personal and public health to reach out to him or his not-for-profit Rain Matter Foundation for a collaboration. What happened during the podcast shoot? While shooting the podcast with Nikhil, Nithin and other guests, Johnson had to leave midway since he struggled with the air quality in the room despite wearing an N95 mask and running an air purifier. The AQI at the time was around 120, but since the room was pulling in outside air, his purifier couldn’t make much of a difference. When in India, I did end this podcast early due to the bad air quality. @nikhilkamathcio was a gracious host and we were having a great time. The problem was that the room we were in circulated outside air which made the air purifier I'd brought with me ineffective. Inside,… — Bryan Johnson /dd (@bryan_johnson) February 3, 2025 Calling Nikhil Kamath a “gracious host,” he later explained that the situation was simply unbearable for him. He also took a moment to criticise how deeply normalised air pollution has become in India.
