The debate over India’s air pollution intensified after American millionaire Bryan Johnson, known for his claims of reversing his biological age by 5.1 years, walked out of Nikhil Kamath’s podcast "WTF is Longevity?" midway, citing concerns over “bad air quality.” In response, a startup founder has stepped forward, offering to improve the air quality at Zerodha’s office.
Abhinav Gupta, the founder of an air purifier company, proposed a free installation with a guarantee that the Air Quality Index (AQI) would be reduced to single-digit levels. In a social media post, he directly addressed Zerodha co-founder and CEO Nithin Kamath, highlighting the air quality issues at the company's premises.
"Hi Nithin, I have been trying to get in touch with your team to fix the air at Zerodha’s office. We did an IAQ (Indoor Air Quality) test and found excess CO2 and PM2.5. I am offering a free installation and a guarantee that AQI will be a single digit. All I have been getting is ‘We’ll get back to you’," Gupta wrote.
His post was a direct response to Kamath’s earlier remarks on X (formerly Twitter), where he pointed out that Johnson’s experience debunked the common perception that poor air quality in India is limited to Delhi and occurs only during winter.
Johnson, who was in India for six days to promote his book on age reversal, "Don’t Die", participated in Kamath’s podcast, which was recorded at a sea-facing apartment in Bandra, Mumbai. However, within minutes of the discussion, he expressed severe discomfort due to air pollution. He put on a face mask before ultimately walking out of the session.
Upon returning to the US, Johnson addressed the issue of India’s air quality, stating that “Indians are justifiably outraged.” In a social media post, he detailed his experience, explaining that the AQI inside the recording space was 130, with PM2.5 levels at 75 µg/m³—equivalent to smoking 3.4 cigarettes over 24 hours of exposure.
"This was my third day in India, and the air pollution had already caused my skin to break out in a rash, and my eyes and throat to burn," he said.
He further expressed his astonishment at how normalised air pollution had become in India.
"People were outside running. Babies and small children were exposed from birth. No one wore a mask, despite the well-documented health risks. It was so confusing," he noted.
Johnson argued that air quality at such levels should be declared a national emergency, adding that improving air pollution in India would have a greater impact on public health than even finding a cure for all cancers.
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