New Delhi: Physics Wallah CEO Alakh Pandey reached Assam last week — not to teach but to help people affected by the floods. His first Instagram video from the state, posted on 1 August, was captioned with a broken heart emoji: “Assam I am here this week.” He arrived with truckloads of relief supplies and travelled across flood-hit areas, distributing essential materials to affected families.
Wearing a life jacket with an Assamese gamchha draped around his neck, Pandey has posted four videos on Instagram documenting his relief work. “Please help Assam,” reads the caption of one of the videos.
In his latest video, Pandey is seen carrying two young girls and a woman in his car and taking them to temporary accommodation. One of the girls is seen unlocking the room they are being taken to. “Providing temporary homes,” reads the caption of the reel.
Pandey announced four days ago that he would spend the entire week in the flood-ravaged state. Assam has been battling severe floods for weeks, with lakhs of people affected and thousands displaced as entire villages remain inundated. The floods have claimed 95 lives so far, while rescue and relief operations continue across several districts. Against this backdrop of widespread devastation, Pandey has been travelling through affected areas, meeting families, distributing relief material and documenting the crisis on the ground.
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Backing students
The Assam relief work marks another chapter in Pandey’s growing public engagement beyond the education business. Over the past few years, he has backed several student movements, including the CJP-led student protests and the 2024 NEET protests. He also approached the courts in connection with the NEET controversy.
Over the past two years, Pandey has travelled to meet students and families from economically weaker backgrounds after their stories went viral. In 2024, he visited the Mumbai home of an IIT aspirant who had studied by borrowing a neighbour’s Wi-Fi signal from a terrace. Pandey shared a meal with the student’s family and spoke with his mother about their struggles.
“He used to go to the terrace for the neighbour’s Wi-Fi. He had faced many difficulties,” the student’s mother said in the viral clip, in which Pandey is seen eating with the student while sitting on the same bed.
He also visited the home of Sarfaraz, a student who qualified for NEET and whose father works as a daily-wage labourer. Pandey gifted him a new phone and offered financial support for his medical education. He also urged him to repay the gesture in the future by supporting another deserving student.
Pandey has long been known for supporting students from disadvantaged backgrounds. More recently, he sponsored the education of a 14-year-old girl from Jharkhand who had dropped out of school because her family could not afford to continue her education.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)