 He was a batchmate of Swapan Dasgupta and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta at La Martiniere, and all three went up to St. Stephen's College, Delhi University, together.At St. Stephen's, Mitra and Shashi Tharoor were to become great friends and Mitra even became campaign manager for Tharoor's successful campaign to become President of the college's student union.Mitra received an MA and M.Phil in History at Delhi University as well.