New Delhi, Dec. 21 -- Sitting in the conference room of his office in Bengaluru, Ather co-founder and chief Tarun Mehta is amused at a question on how life has changed since the company went public. The bespectacled 36-year-old says he is frequently asked this, nearly everywhere he goes.

"I'm getting a bit of a fomo (fear of missing out) right now. There's something I'm missing about what should have changed. I almost feel obliged to say that something has changed, but I can't, hand on heart, say what's changed," Mehta says with a smile.

"For me, personally, not much," he told Mint in an hour-long chat at Ather's headquarters in the tech capital of the country.

Yet, the image of his company in the eyes of investors, the public, and the...