A loud knock on my cabin’s door brought me out of my trance. I had a spinal cord operation recently, so I am getting more free time than usual these days.

“Come in,” I said. Upon hearing these words from me, the visitor showed himself. He turned out to be Mr. Deepak, the process auditor for my company. He was here to discuss the upcoming Reward & Recognition ceremony of my company which is just around the corner.

I feel elated knowing that I am doing something positive for my employees. I want them to feel appreciated for all the hard work they do for the company. It was not a common thing during the time when I was an employee, and I sometimes wonder what difference it could have made to me if I was similarly appreciated and motivated.

I have always been an ardent follower of the ideology that ‘what motivation can do for a person, no other incentives can.’

time coping. Bengali for me was a second language in my previous school and I faced extreme difficulty in grasping the language but here the syllabus included poems and stories in the Bengali language. I was feeling so out of place in school that I started skipping it on most days. I was having a very hard time adjusting to this huge difference and it became my excuse.

I didn’t have many friends at that point in my life and the only way of spending time was watching television at neighbourhood houses. If you are a 90’s kid you must know about the serial which used to air on SONY named “Aahat”. I started connecting with one of its characters “Vedant” and slowly adapted his traits to me. Quiet and broody became my nature. Everyone got tired of my monosyllabic answers. It was much later in my life when I got into the corporate world did I understand the importance of stating my views and opinions.

Thinking about Aahat made me recall a time when we did not have a television at our home and I was quite fond of watching serials like Mahabharata and Ramayana which used to air at that time. I used to go to my neighbour’s house to watch these serials and sometimes we used to stand outside their home and peep through the window, one day the owner could not take it anymore and he threw hot water at me. My heart bled that day that how can people be so cruel but soon I understood this is how life is.

FYI: After I reached a point where I could afford things in my life, I made sure to purchase the Ramayana and Mahabharata books first and read them. I still try to inculcate the teachings I learned from it into my day-to-day life.

School somehow became a neglected part of my life, due to which I was often compared to my siblings by my parents. It used to irritate me to the core but now that I look back, it was for my own benefit.

My situation worsened to the point where I quit my studies after my secondary examinations. I failed in one subject and honestly speaking, it didn’t even matter to me.

But my life took a turn for the better after some years. I fell in love with a girl and she persuaded me to continue with my education as she was pursuing her higher studies and didn’t want me to fall behind.

We thought that our love was eternal and that we will be together for our whole life. But as the old saying goes, what’s meant to happen will happen! Her family got to know about us, and they were furious to know that we were in a relationship.

We were summoned in front of a lot of people and I knew that we would be put to task. Topics were raised on my status, my education, and my caste.

To say it was hurtful would be an understatement. The words made me realise where I stand right now and where I would like to see myself standing in life in future.

Some days later the big day arrived. I went to watch the bride’s farewell from afar. I wanted the incident to hurt me to the point that it becomes my fuel to work towards a goal in life. I was heartbroken, and I was shattered; life felt like a hollow and getting back up again seemed difficult.

Still, I rose.

Now that I look back on that day, I am glad that things didn’t work out for me. It made me realise my true potential and helped me reach where I am today.

My father gave me seventy thousand rupees to build our house. We were not that financially independent or strong you can say. It was his whole life’s savings that were to be used to construct the entire house (now before you think that seventy thousand is too small of a sum to build an entire house, I only had to upgrade our existing tin house). I used all of it to build only the foundation of our new home. My neighbours, friends, and family made me the subject of their jokes and laughter…according to them I wasted my father’s money by burying it all in the dirt as the foundation is basically below ground level, but I knew the importance of having a strong base. I did not want my family to live in a tin house anymore.

I was working at a very meager salary when this was happening and whatever salary I used to get, seventy percent of it went into investment towards the construction of a solid house…one that could not be looked down upon like my first love’s father had. I used to buy whatever supplies I could and with the next month’s salary appoint workers to continue their work. After a point the construction workers grew agitated with me as they did not want to work at a place where there is no work stability for them; one month of work

then a pause for a few days and then resuming work as money came.

Because our home was under construction, we had to stay in a makeshift house with a single room on the same plot. The space was very small, so much so that it only consisted of a

single room which served the purpose of a kitchen as well. We were four people living over there and adjustment as well as compromise was a part of our daily routine.

The motivation behind adjusting and surviving every day was the thought that I will soon finish building our home and my family will have a decent place to live. Some days later, I received a legal notice to stop any further work on the land where I had already built the foundation by investing my sweat, blood, and tears. Someone had claimed that the land where I was building my home was theirs, and filed a complaint in the municipality.

I went to the municipality only to find out that the person who complained against me was not the owner, the actual owner was currently residing in Bihar and the land belonged to his grandfather. Now the main question that arose was how am I supposed to find a person I know nothing about,

not even his name or address? To my rescue came a ‘jhaalmuri’ vendor, the thing about small towns and villages is that people know each other and sometimes their relatives and friends too. I got to know after some research that the vendor knew a person who had the name and current locality of the owner of my property. At least now I had a lead so that I could continue my search and I went to Bihar to begin my quest.

My pursuit was not easy as I had to ask more than two hundred people if they knew the man and it took me more than a day, but finally, I found him. After reaching his house I asked him to come back to Dinhata with me to transfer the ownership to my name, and after some convincing he did.

That day I understood that if God puts us in a situation he will also help us through it.

What kept me going was my burning desire to prove myself. Slowly but steadily I built my house, leaving some space with extension rods so that when I have money later at some point of time in my life I can easily extend my house and when I buy a car I can build my own garage. Again I was ridiculed by neighbourhood people for this. But I knew where I want to be and I liked to plan for future endeavours.

Due to our challenging financial situation, I started working at a young age when I was in high school. My first job was at ‘Lalani Computer Academy’ where I used to work at a very meager salary of rupees two thousand. But for me, even that was a big sum at that time. Next, I worked at First Source Private Limited to support the rest of my schooling life.

I have to prove myself, a constant mantra that started going on in my head. It pushed me to work hard in life to build a career for myself and my family. I started focusing on my higher studies, I was pursuing my Bachelor in Computer Applications (BCA) from Indira Gandhi National Open University so that I could study and work at the same time.

I was working hard so that I could support my education further and started teaching

at a neighbourhood school, and although the salary was not very good, I didn't complain. The job was of an assistant computer teacher at “Brahmanir Chowki High School”. The school didn't have secure rooms, so the computers were kept in the principal's office, my job role also included shifting the systems from there to a normal room and then back so that they don't get stolen. What drove me to continue working so hard was that zeal to prove myself.

You must have often heard that ‘my dad is my superhero’ but in my case, it was my dad's mother, my dadi. She was a source of constant inspiration for me and by God's grace continues to inspire me to date.

My dadaji (grandfather) passed away when my father and aunts were small and it was my dadi (grandmother) who raised them up and ensured that she provided them with the necessities of life like basic education and marriage.

What changed my life for the better was my job as a smart class coordinator for Educomp at St. Mary's Higher Secondary School. I bagged that job during the last years of my BCA education.

For me speaking in English seemed like an impossible feat. Due to my ignorance in school, I was not very good at it. The first day of the shift at St. Mary Higher Secondary School was the most difficult for me. I kept contemplating outside the gates whether to go inside or not, but maybe it was my willpower that helped me cross this hurdle.

The principal at that time was Sister Amala. She can be called the epitome of grace and kindness. It was due to her encouragement that I gained the confidence to speak in front of people, little by little. Assemblies, seminars, and classes all became my sanctuaries to learning English.

My grandmother used to do business as a milk supplier and to help her out in whatever manner I could I used to deliver milk for her. The rich people of my town were our major customers and those people's kids were the students at this school. For them accepting me as their teacher was proving to be difficult as they had seen me delivering milk.

I did not receive any sense of acknowledgement (the previous spelling was right) or respect that a teacher is supposed to receive, though that didn't stop me from believing in myself and my capabilities.

A year passed and a considerable amount of change could be seen now. The students who were previously ashamed of me became proud that I am from their town. The word started spreading about my unique ways of teaching and the parents started requesting me to start taking tuition for higher standards as well.

I did not know when I became a star from an outcast. New responsibilities were added to my shoulders, a new branch of the school was opening nearby and I was in charge of the IT- related management to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Along with this hustle, I was also managing to support and complete my Master's in Computer Applications (MCA).

My popularity in my town became such that students from nearby cities like Siliguri started taking tuition from me, for them travelling for four hours to attend my lectures was worth it. Life was going well! But my urge to earn more or should I say my entrepreneurial spirit was not letting me rest.

Do you remember my business at that computer center which didn't take off well because of the digital illiteracy of the common people at Dinhata? Yes, I think you understood where I am going...I opened a computer center again and this time by God's grace and the support of my students it started earning a fair amount of profit. In fact, the demand increased to such an extent that soon I branched out to nearby villages and districts as well.

Maybe, now anyone in my place would have been happy. I was quite stable in life now. But what to do, I had this bug inside me...which was not letting me stop my entrepreneurial journey.

There was a vacant or should I say almost abandoned factory in Dinhata which was running at loss. I took the decision of renting that factory and started a business, which was of manufacturing packaged drinking water. To motivate my employees there I started keeping various competitions and monetary incentives for deserving ones. It was fairly a new

concept for the village people and they started working hard for incentives, and soon I could start seeing progress.

Now my goal was to cut down on the cost of manufacturing and I could see two ways to do so. Firstly, I wanted to purchase the machine which makes the bottles, previously I used to buy them from Siliguri. Buying empty bottles as a separate entity was adding up to my expenses. Secondly, I wanted to have a private vehicle for transportation, so that I could transport my goods as and when needed.

Buying a new machine was nearly an impossible feat due to my monetary restrictions, so I decided to repair the old one which was currently decaying in a corner of the factory. After I conquered these two problems the factory started making huge amounts of profit.

While I was ecstatic with the life I was living, God decided to bless me with the girl of my dreams as well. She supported me while I was building myself up from scratch and we wanted to marry each other. But destiny decided to play its part! Our relationship got caught and her parents hired goons to put me in place. She belonged to a wealthy and affluent family. Her father is one of the richest people in the North Bengal region. For them, our marriage seemed like doom to their family and he could not let it happen. Flashbacks in a series of picture frames started playing in my head, I lost my love once and it made me determined not to let the same thing happen to me again.

We had no other option left so we decided to elope together. The date is still engraved in my mind; 28^th December 2016.

You might think that eloping solved my problem but in reality, it worsened the situation. Police were deployed and they barricaded the entire Cooch Behar district, Siliguri, and Alipurduar.

My wife's parents had the power of police, politicians, and goons, while the power I had was the power of my mind. I read this quote somewhere “You have the power over your mind, not outside events. Realise this and you will find strength!”

Life had taught me that thinking calmly and clearly in a situation of adversity is very important, it helps you in taking the necessary actions required. With all the borders near my home blocked, I had to think of a different alternative. Did you know that Bhutan is quite close to Cooch Behar (my hometown)? I took the route of forests and dark alleys to enter Bhutan and rent a hotel there. That place gave me a safe shelter as it was outside the jurisdiction of the Indian Police. The formalities (prior permission) needed to be done by the police; to enter Bhutan bought me some extra time.

After four days of my stay in Bhutan, one of my calls got traced I already knew that this was going to happen but I needed to know what was the condition back home. What I got to hear shook me to the core. The situation over there was pretty bad.

All my businesses were seized, my house was dilapidated and my assets were frozen. But I had no other option other than moving forward to save myself. I moved to Siliguri next and then to Kolkata, as staying in one place for too long was risky.

I left home with a sum of rupees forty thousand and, owing to my constantly moving lifestyle, it was soon on the verge of getting exhausted. In those uncertain days, I had to make one of the most painful compromises of my life — selling my Samsung Galaxy mobile because I desperately needed money. The phone was not merely a device to me; it carried fragments of my life, countless memories, photographs, conversations, and moments I knew I would never be able to recreate again.

What made it even harder was the urgency surrounding the entire situation. Since my mobile had my personal photos and memories, it became necessary for me to remove them from the device completely before selling it. I did not have the luxury of time. Everything had to be done within the smallest possible window, swiftly and without hesitation. I had no way to preserve the data stored inside it. Even buying a memory card to back up those memories felt like an unaffordable expense at the time. One by one, I watched pieces of my past disappear from the screen forever.

In the end, after all the rush, anxiety, and emotional turmoil, I was finally able to sell the mobile for a mere Rs. 2000/-.

Upon reaching Kolkata I got to know that there was a sum of rupees fifty thousand announced by the government and rupees two lakhs by my wife's father on me, whoever will give my information will get that amount. I felt like a criminal, there were posters of my name and face all over the city.

An FIR was registered against me that I had kidnapped the girl and a lot of other false accusations along with it. My calls were getting tapped and it became impossible for me to use a mobile phone. I stopped using them altogether, if I wanted

to make a call I used to ask for the help of a passerby near me. When I first reached Kolkata I was staying at a place called Mahisbathan, it is near Saltlake and a point came in my life where I had no funds left whatsoever. I was in dire need of money and didn't have the option to call any friends due to the call tracing going on.

It is said that when you work in an office your colleagues become your confidant and try to make relationships that will help you in the long run. An employee (colleague) can assist you in not only your professional world but in your personal world as well. Back in 2008, I used to work in a call center in Siliguri and in this time of need my colleagues from there helped me out. They could not be tracked because no one knew about them as it was way back in my life and there were no track records of my time there. They gave me rupees five thousand, three thousand, and two thousand respectively.

I understood one thing living in the city is going to be too risky as well as very costly so I decided to shift to ‘Kona’, which is a place in the Hooghly district of West Bengal and it takes around two to two and half hours to reach there from Kolkata. We rented a tin hut for rupees five hundred per month and basic necessities like fans and lights were not available in it. In the modern world where technology was developing so rapidly, I was deprived of even the basic requirements of life. I did not have a cell phone also but never did I regret my decision to marry the love of my life.

Our condition deteriorated to such an extent that a point came when I had no money left with me and my wife was pregnant with our first child. I exhausted the last of my savings which were twenty rupees to cover the bus fare and

buy a packet of “chiwda”. I was devastated when I found out that the food has kerosene oil in it and my wife will not be able to eat that. My heart was bleeding from the fact that I am being unable to provide even one meal a day to her and it helped me get over the fear of getting caught by the police.

Sanctuary of Faith: In Kona, nestled amid forgotten lanes, stood a dilapidated Shiv Mandir in the name of Kona Maheshwar Mandir - its ancient stones cracked by time. To me, it was a sanctuary, a fragile bridge to the divine.

Every day, I visited the temple, my heart heavy with concern for my parents. I would pray before the weathered lingam, asking Shivji to grant them relief, tears accompanying each earnest prayer.

When my situation improved, I began rebuilding the temple humbly, offering small sums from my meagre earnings, brick by brick, prayer by prayer. That quiet act of devotion continues even now, a lifelong vow to the Lord who never turned away.

Each morning, without fail, the pujari sends a photo of the lingam adorned with fresh marigolds, vibhuti-dusted, radiant after the aarti. My day awakens to that divine darshan, Shiva's serene gaze pulling me from sleep into enduring peace. Even today, whenever life allows, I return to that same mandir, kneeling where my tears once fell, silently renewing my lifelong gratitude.

It is said that God is there to help people who need it. When the last morsel of food went to waste I was too ashamed to sit in front of my wife so I got up and left our house. I was walking absentmindedly, at the back of my mind thinking ways to arrange for food when I saw two men coming towards me and they gave me a packet of “khichdi”, it was Saraswati puja that day which I was not aware of and food was being distributed in a pandal near my house.

In a very timid voice, I managed to ask them whether or not they can give me an extra packet, and to my astonishment, they said yes. So we had that khichdi that day and survived the night. I received some monetary help the next day from a friend.

That day I decided to find a job anyhow as things cannot keep going on like this!

(FYI: I still go there every year during Saraswati puja to have that khichdi. That day I do not eat at home.)

It is said that God does not always remove the obstacles in life, instead, he helps us make our way through them. I am a theist; a firm believer in God. He has our life planned ahead of us and every little minuscule detail which may seem worthless to us can be of great help or of importance later on.

When I left home I took with me forty thousand rupees and a few of my certificates and diplomas.

I started applying for jobs through an online job searching platform. To make the ends meet I was ready to settle down at a salary of even rupees three thousand because at that time even a few thousand were very hard for me to get. Due to my over qualification, no one was ready to hire me as an employee at such a low amount and the local businesses could not pay more than that. As if my luck was finally working in my favour, soon I received a call from the Pearson Group and I went for the interview.

You might think that all will be well now but my life had a lot of potholes that I needed to cross during this phase. Although I got selected, the celebration was very far down the line. Before starting my job I had to take fifteen days of training in Bangalore. The only thing that kept coming to my mind was I will not be able to pass through airport security, no matter how lucky I have been in escaping the police in Kolkata. But I had to take the risk as there was no other option left for me.

I hugged my wife and told her, “I am sorry, main yahi tak sambahl paaya..If I get caught, forgive me.” Some of you may think that I am being histrionic but my reality was such that I knew what could happen to me if I get caught by the police.

Upon reaching the airport, I was so petrified that even a normal subconscious thing like breathing was proving to be difficult for me. Only God could help me out in that situation and he did. To my surprise I passed through all the check points smoothly and that's not all! I even stayed at a hotel after reaching Bangalore and did not get traced.

After my training completion, I was allotted Siliguri and its neighbouring zones. If you don't know, Siliguri is around four hours away from Dinhata; the very place I was running away from. My job was to visit CBSE and ICSE schools and manage the resources of the company including manpower.

I knew that soon the day would come when I have to visit St. Mary's School in Cooch Behar and I started planning seriously on setting my life situation straight once and for all. Leaving the job was not in the plan because my wife was going to deliver our first baby in a month's time and I needed the money and financial stability that only a secure job could give me.

The time was very stressful for me as I had to do all the household chores like washing the clothes and dishes, cooking food, and cleaning the house because I did not want my pregnant wife to exert herself or take any more stress than what she already had. Managing both my personal and professional life at the same time keeping myself hidden from the police was a hectic task that was draining me of all my energy each day. But life had taught me how to stay calm and focused to deal with adversity.

My wife delivered our first baby, a girl on 26th July 2017 at a local hospital in Siliguri. When the nurse brought her out of the operating theatre she looked so tiny and fragile. Tears of happiness were streaming down my face but hidden in them was a cry of despair too. I was on top of the world that day but it was so heartbreaking for me at the same time. I could not share this feeling with anyone, not my parents or my siblings. If they were to know that I am a father now I can bet that their happiness would exceed mine. We named our daughter “Khushi” to signify the onset of happiness in

our life. She was my little ray of hope and happiness in that dark time. I think the only times when I used to smile was when she was in my arms and I used to play with her. Later on, in life, we were blessed with a baby boy whom we named “Yuvraj”.

The game of life would become more difficult if I lay waiting. I decided that it was time that I should play this game from the front line and prove my innocence. I was in abscondment for the past one and a half years having no contact with my family or friends. According to them, I was dead. They could not believe the fact that I will not contact them for so long if I was alive.

During this time, my wife was my constant support but I knew that the time had come when I had to send her back to Cooch Behar. I sent my wife and daughter back to Cooch Behar and I stayed back in Siliguri. This was the first time when I was all alone. I knew that there is a long way to go and this journey is not going to be easy for me anyhow.

The time was tough for me but I always believed in one thing “If God closes one door, he opens another”. I decided to apply for my bail and not stay concealed anymore. While staying in Siliguri, I filed my first bail petition at the Court of Cooch Behar. The petition got rejected.

Down memory lane, I still remember the night which I had to spend in Siliguri without my wife and daughter. It was very cold in Siliguri and the house that I rented was made up of unburnt bricks & as expected it was not capable of preventing the cold. At that time; I merely had rupees five hundred left with me. I went to a shop there; to buy a blanket for myself. There were two blankets in the shop; one is worth rupees one hundred & the other one was of rupees three

hundred. I bought the former one and obviously, that was not tough enough to protect me from the bone-shaking chill.

That night I was not able to sleep and one thing I realised; when you are left alone with several problems in your head; each day becomes long and every night becomes sleepless. Despite all these odds; I chose not to lose my hope and decided to fight until I win my battle.

I filed my bail application before the Hon’ble High Court and I moved this application in person without any advocate.

Against all the odds, the High Court granted me bail, and in that moment, it felt as though God himself had answered my prayers. That moment remains etched in my memory not merely because I was being set free, but because of who stood beside me when it happened. Present in that courtroom hearing were my mother and my wife, two women who had silently endured the weight of those turbulent years alongside me.

It was now time for me to return to the very place I had been running from for almost a year and a half.

It is rightly said that no person on earth can love you more than your parents. As soon as I contacted them they did not ask me even a single question regarding anything. Instead, they came to the station at midnight to take me home.

When I returned home after almost one and a half years, I was carrying mixed feelings within myself. I was happy to see my family in front of me but at the same time, I was worried about the thought of my family’s situation too. In this context, I want to share something; something that made me feel like I am the luckiest & proudest brother in the world.

When I absconded from my place; all my assets were seized, including the factory that I started and also my valuables. I was sure that the car which I bought on EMI for the work of my factory was also seized but to my surprise, the car was there. I didn't know how but it was there, then I came to know that it was my sister who was there during my absence by my family's side. She not only took care of my family's responsibilities but also paid the EMI for the car. That day I felt myself, the luckiest brother in the world.

Another thing that was there in my mind was, though I did escape the people of Dinhata in the wee hours of the night I knew I had to face them in the morning, and to be honest I was not ready to do so.

I was given bail on one condition I have to report to the police station every day and mark my attendance.

Every day on my way I used to feel as if I have committed a crime, all the kids in my neighbourhood used to watch me with strange looks in their eyes as if their parents had warned them about me. Although I agree that leaving your parents alone for such a long time to suffer without their child is a crime, (this was coming right with the context) treating me like a criminal? I did not deserve that! That day I understood that when you can't control what's happening, challenge yourself to control the way you respond. That's where your power is. Hence, I started filtering out all negativity from my mind.

My family in my absence got drowned in the loans they took and I wanted to help them get out of it as soon as possible. My monthly salary at that point of time was coming in at lakhs per month at Oxford University Press when I joined it in 2018. But still, the debt amount remained overpowering. Due to these challenging financial situations at home, a rift started between my wife and me. She belonged to a rich family and after reuniting with her family after so long maybe she started missing her old lifestyle. Now don't get me wrong, she supported me throughout the toughest times in my life and I will be forever grateful for that.

She was upset with our financial condition and the situation worsened to a point that she went to stay at her parent's home for a few days. We had a daughter and for her sake, she decided to come back but refused to eat food made at our home. Every day a car used to come in front of our house to deliver food sent by my in-laws for my wife. It was quite unsettling for me. To see my wife eating something else in front of me made me upset to the core. I wanted to do something to stop this food delivery service from going on.

One day we were coming back from court after one of my hearings and my wife took up the same topic she had kept repeating these days; My status! She kept comparing me to her father regarding class, power, and money.

That day I decided that I have to do what was done before. So, I started plowing my head for ideas to start a business, but I had only Rs 1000 to spare.

While thinking about my plans, I started evaluating myself on what things I am good at. For example, RTI filing was one thing I had been doing all my life and had detailed knowledge about. My uncle was a government employee and he worked for the railway sector. After retirement, a lot of money was struck in the database and I helped him to get his money back by filing an RTI application. From then on I became an RTI activist for common people in society and used to file it for them free of cost. My graduation and masters were done in the field of computer applications, so a plan started to brew in my head.

I started thinking about the ways I could use the two of them together and decided to make my own website where RTI applications will be filed for people at a very nominal price. I had absolutely nothing at that point in my life; no money or resources. So I did the complete process of building a website from scratch, everything from content creation to designing, and sales to marketing. Of the Rs 1000 I had, Rs 500 was used to buy the domain of the website and the rest for marketing.

My main purpose to start this particular business was to help people at a very affordable cost and earn money through it,

hence I kept the price at Rs 99/- only so that all sections of society can afford and avail of it.

You wouldn’t believe it but I got my first client on the same day of launching my website and the most ironic part is the date on which I launched it. But the earning revenue from this project was still a milestone for us.

I consider 28th December (2016) to be the day when the toughest battle of my life started as I eloped with the girl of my dream. I completed making my website by 27 December (2018) but decided to launch it on the 28th to remember that day for the rest of my life and get a chance to celebrate it every year.

I was very skeptical about the fruits this website will bear me but to my utmost shock, it started getting more and more clients with each passing day and slowly we increased our pricing to rupees one hundred forty-nine when we saw that we are indeed building a client base steadily.

We started at a very small scale in Dinhata with only two or three employees and the demand increased so rapidly by February 2019 that I had to hire more people as the work was getting piled up and two to three employees were not being able to cope with the pressure. I started the culture of work from home for my employees at a time when it was not even in trend. I hired advocates from neighbouring areas like Siliguri, Cooch Behar, and Ranchi, I did not even know these people but I had to take a leap of faith.

FYI: I had no money to buy a laptop upfront to start my company. So, I had to purchase one through the EMI option. Today I am at a point where I frequently buy a lot of laptops

and desktops for my employees but I am still faithful to that old laptop.

Gradually I increased the pricing to rupees three hundred ninety-nine per filing when I saw that there is a huge demand in the market for this business and our website was gaining quite some popularity due to its pricing. When the top-notch companies were charging people a hefty amount we were providing the same service at a very low price and it started attracting customers to us. Sooner rather than later we became one of India's leading service providers in online RTI filing.

In a random verbal discussion with one of my employees, Mr. Sujan, I told him that we should move our office to Kolkata. It had been around six months since I started my business, and I felt that it was time to shift my base for two reasons: one is to curb the home delivery of food for my wife from my in-laws, and second for the betterment of business opportunities. You wouldn't believe it, but just after one day of our discussion both of us went to Kolkata without any preparation whatsoever and decided to take a chance. So we went in search of an office directly from the railway station and our major points of concern were, finding a decent office and making sure it fits within our budget gap.

The brokers and owners who were showing us the spaces couldn't believe that we were there to rent the place, they thought we would not be able to afford it because we were wearing shorts and t-shirts and quite tired from our train journey. Due to our tight budget, we could not afford an office in a prime location in the city and settled for a small space at Ruby; a place in east Kolkata. The office was not in your traditional setup, it had two small rooms which could

accommodate three people and four people respectively. So there was not much space to sit comfortably…I used to roam around in that space the whole time. We were so concerned that our work will get hampered that we left Kolkata the same day we arrived to book office space. We returned the next week when it was time to set up our new office. Every muscle in our body was screaming for some rest but I knew that it was time for hustle. I was pushing myself to the edge to test my limits and see what I am capable to sacrifice accordingly and win!

Now that we had a proper office space we decided to prioritize our existing employees who are working from home to join from the in-office mode and then if the need arises hire more employees. But due to the convenience of working from home, none of them wanted to shift so we had to take the alternative route and hire new people. Only a few people including Sujan, three advocates and two sales representatives, and me were working from the office.

Although we had an office now, the area was proving to be a problem. We shifted again in a small amount of time in search of a bigger space. Yet again we found an office in the same locality; Ruby. This time around we had a small room for the Managing Director and two other rooms with decent enough space.

FYI: A current bank account is required for any company and I went to ICICI bank to open one for my company. Their minimum requirement was a sum of twenty-five thousand rupees but I did not have so much money on me at that time. Using whatever funds I had which were around five thousand rupees, I had to open an account in the Central bank of India.

The wheel of time turned in such a way that one and a half years later when my company 'FastInfo' started getting noticed by media publications and had started making its name in the industry, ICICI bank's manager came to open our account directly at my office.

The same bank which has once refused to open up my company's account has now, Online Legal India listed on their website which is a brand of FastInfo.

Our little team was slowly building up in numbers. More and more employees were being hired for the "Online RTI Application" platform which was our website's name. It was time to focus on marketing and so a digital marketing expert was to be hired. Now, this was a rather difficult decision for us to take! Why? Well, we were a small company that was still in its growth process and to afford the salary that the expert was demanding was a little difficult for me. Taking a leap of faith we decided to just go with it as taking this risk was a little necessary for us to catch up on the marketing domain.

All was going well until our website crashed, we had no IT team to ask for help and backup and all was to be done by me single-handedly. I had to keep calm and stay composed in front of other employees to not scare them off and at the same time get the issue resolved. After two days of hard work, our site was restored and it made us realise the need for an IT professional. And the next addition to our team was an engineer from Delhi.

This adversity helped me chart further my future plans for my company. I started thinking if we are doing RTI application filing why can't we progress into other legal domains as well like consumer complaints? It had a lot of

needs in the market and still lacked proper platforms that are accessible and affordable. My company got incorporated on the 24th of July 2019 under the name "FastInfo Legal Services Pvt. Ltd." and it was time to launch my company's new website called "Online Legal India", one of the very first services that we started providing there was consumer complaint and advice. We were one of the few companies providing this service at this cost and with such excellent customer service, this became the reason for the website becoming a hit in the market in just a few months of its launch. With the increase in client base, gradually our employee strength started increasing as well.

The demand increased to such a large extent that I started thinking about ways to cope with the existing demand as well as prepare for future demands that may increase soon. On November 2019, my company conducted one of its first mass hirings when twenty-five to thirty people were hired for the job role of customer care executives and advocates. It was a very good phase in my life; I had a company that was in its growth stage and slowly marking its presence in the industry. Soon we even rented another floor in the same building to accommodate my employees.

I was at a point in my life where I got to experience a few firsts. It is said that firsts are always special because you

know the struggle and pain you had to endure to acquire them. A time was there in my life when even purchasing a cycle was also difficult but later in life after a lot of hard work and endurance, I purchased my first car in 2019. A Honda City, and yes it will always remain special to me. The journey from a bicycle to a four-seater was not easy but it definitely taught me an important lesson which is to appreciate and enjoy even the small things in life. We always tend to appreciate and cherish the things that we attain after struggling for a long period of time but this should not be the case. For example, my daughter will never be able to understand how big of a deal that car is. She will not be able to feel as grateful for our car as I am because she has seen it since her childhood so it is just another common thing for her.

I would like to pass on a message to my daughter: You are just a baby to understand these things right now, but when you will grow up and read this book I would like to tell you to always be grateful for the things you have in your life and try not to take anything for granted, cause you never know what lies ahead in life for you.

In January 2020 I started looking for new offices in Saltlake, Sector 5 because it was one of the best areas for commercial space. One of the main issues we were facing to get an office there was, no one was ready to rent a space to a company with so many legal representatives as the general public is always apprehensive in renting out their properties to lawyers and advocates for fear of being sued if anything goes wrong. Another reason was that my company had a paid-up capital of only rupees one lakh. So, the owners were

skeptical about whether or not I will be able to pay the rent on time.

At last, I found the perfect place for my office at Kariwala Towers in Saltlake Sector 5, Kolkata. They were ready to provide me with office space within my budget and it suited my needs perfectly. When having a meeting with the owner of the building I voiced my concern about my future plans on acquiring other floors in the future if need may, to which I got an affirmative response. This was the confidence I had in my company's future growth. Today I can proudly say that I have rented out not one but two floors at Kariwala Towers and recently I called the owner again to rent one more but also there was no more free space left. It is funny how expansion knows no bounds. From renting a small two-roomed office in Ruby to renting three floors in an area like Sector 5 which is an IT hub, it has been a long journey but I am happy that I reached here and definitely plan to go further ahead.

Along with Kolkata, I subsequently branched out to different cities in India and today one of my companies 'FastInfo Private Limited' has its head office in Noida. The process of acquiring the office space was a smooth affair this time compared to Kolkata as now my company had gained considerable recognition.

Following an essential mantra in ethics:

When my business started flourishing in late 2019, I ensured that all my employees received their salaries on time. I remember a time in March of 2019 when I had no funds left to pay my employees their salaries, as I had made investments for the expansion of my business. Since paying my employees salary on time has always been next to a

principle to me, my mind started churning ideas on how to resolve the issue.

Every working individual might have heard about the concept of a Provident Fund (PF). I had a PF account that had some funds, I had to liquefy that so I can make the salary payment on time. I knew that claiming my provident fund is the only way to sustain and today I am glad that I took the decision.

We are a generation that has observed one of the largest man-made catastrophes in history in terms of the Novel Coronavirus or COVID - 19.

When the news of the coronavirus outbreak started circulating, I assumed that this virus will be grasping the whole world in its clutches. I knew that I did not have enough laptops or computer systems that I could give out for a work-from-home structure, and started thinking of a different alternative on how can I handle the situation effortlessly. You already know that my company started with a similar structure like this when work-from-home was not even in trend. I had faith that my company would be able to do it again, the only difference being that this time my employee strength had increased five folds.

I had a discussion with the IT department of my company and we decided that it was time to remodel and upgrade our existing app. The people from the IT team worked diligently and built an application that could be easily used on mobile phones by the sales team and we overcame the upcoming work-from-home hurdle in a smooth manner.

The coronavirus was spreading so rapidly without any cure that a lockdown was imposed on each and every corner of

the whole world. In India, the lockdown started on 23 March 2020 and we did not know at that time when the curb will be lifted.

While the other companies and competitors were stuck in a rut while figuring out how to manage the situation and provide their employees with work-from-home opportunities within such a short span of time I had an advantage over here. My company was ready with a work-from-home module and implementing the working schedule and techniques was comparatively a little bit easier for me. We already had the required resources and without wasting any time my employees started working the very next day.

The market was in such a condition that people were losing their jobs or not getting salaries for working during the lockdown. My employees were also very scared and a few of them voiced their concerns, they did not want to lose their jobs and were ready to work at a fifty per cent salary. I decided that I will not be cutting any employee's salary. They will be getting their full salary and on time every month. I understood the situation where you don't have money in such a situation of dire need; I had been through this phase and wanted to help people as much as possible. I got featured in the media due to this and that day I realised that if you do good, the universe is going to give it back to you, help people in need and God will help you.

Although I had incorporated my company under the name "FastInfo", I did not have the domain name for the same. The domain belonged to a guy from Italy and he was demanding around seven lakh rupees for it. I did not have the liberty nor the funds to pay for it and had to let it go for the time being in 2019.

Life tries to give us second chances and it is said that what is pre-destined will come back to you. During the first wave of the coronavirus, Italy was one of the worst-hit countries. I contacted the person who had the rights over the domain and we closed the deal at that time for around one lakh and eighty thousand rupees. Finally 'FastInfo.com' was mine.

The business was a little down during the lockdown as people did not want to invest their money in legal matters during the pandemic and it was also quite understandable.

A lot of employees from the IT and Marketing departments of my company were sitting idle as there was not much work to do due to the lockdown. That is when it hit me that this could be my way of helping people and earning revenue from it in the future, I decided to start a new online learning platform called FastInfo Class, where my motive will be again to bridge the gap between affordability and accessibility.

The discussion started the very next day to build a website from scratch. After a rigorous one day of continuous work, our website was ready. I know it might sound a little skeptic to you but trust me it was not an easy task to accomplish.

The very first class that was launched on this website was Spoken English and later we branched out to different sectors like yoga and drawing classes as well.

Our price range started from rupees two hundred ninety-nine and our website gained momentum quite soon. My websites were growing steadily with new services being added to them.

On December 2020, I launched my new website which was related to digital marketing and IT solutions called Innovative Bharat because according to me going digital was the need of the hour.

After my successful ventures into the legal & education domain, I was met with a calling for working in my own field of Information Technology, well equipped with my MCA qualification. The world was at a standstill, watching as the rules of the markets changed drastically in the COVID-19 era.

Businesses were going above and beyond to adapt to the "new normal" in order to remain competitive. A comprehensive "Digital Transformation" was the only solution. Thus "Innovative Bharat," was born as a pioneer in digital transformation services that provide businesses with the proper platform to enter the digital world. Helping businesses with solutions designed to address the customer. It offered 360° Next-Generation IT solutions to help businesses compete in the digital arena.

While working towards providing digital business solutions to people who have already established themselves, I observed that there are many people who want to start their own businesses but could not do so due to the lack of funds.

Local shops and vendors were downfalling due to the sharp rise in demand for international goods. Serving society and local people was my motto in life and this was yet another chance for me to do so. I launched an online business service listing platform called "Only Desi" where local shops and businesses can list themselves for free and increase their visibility locally and globally.

The technological world was advancing at such a fast pace that I wanted to ensure that people can use it to its full potential. Government sector examinations are a domain that is pursued by lakhs of students every year but the resources required to prepare for it is still quite expensive and majorly available in offline mode. To solve this problem I launched another website called "Online Class India" which is a revolutionary live online interactive tuition platform. The website started with a one-of-a-kind course called the foundation course which prepares students to clear their foundational concepts not only for one but for all the government competitive exams and that too at a very reasonable price to fit in the budget of everyone. I want the youth of India to reach new heights in their life and change their lives for the better. Slowly, we branched out to specialized govt. Competitive exam coaching like IAS, UPSC, banking services, etc.

As far as I am concerned right now, my journey has only started and I still have a very long way to go. To convey my feelings is not easy but a few lessons that helped me along the way are to believe in myself.

People often forget to be grateful for the small things in life! Food, clothes, a roof over their head…Did you know that I borrowed a shirt from my landlord at the time I had to appear

for my interview with Pearson? This made me realise that even if we have enough of everything to lead a good life, still we whine about what we don't have. Always be grateful for whatever you have today and work hard to achieve what you want tomorrow.

The expectations we have may often not correspond with reality, and we get disappointed every time something like this happens. An incident in life taught me that we should ask for help but not keep expectations on the outcome. I learned this the hard way when I asked a friend for monetary help when I did not have a single penny to buy life's daily necessities like food. He lived in Siliguri and I was in Kolkata during that time, that person asked me to meet him at a place in Siliguri, and to reach my destination I had to sell all the utensils we had so that I could afford the fare. Reality loomed on me when I waited for the whole day at the decided place but he did not turn up and in the end, declined to help me through a phone call. That day I realised not to be dependent on anyone else, and definitely not keep any expectations as it will always lead me to disappointments. When asking someone for help never assume that they will definitely help you out, be ready to instantly switch to a new alternative if you fail instead of lamenting what happened.

Now a lot of us know that life is all about uncertainty and one should always be prepared to be the captain of your life's boat. You can steer towards a destination only if you have the courage to take the steering in hand. A time came in my business's journey when all the major heads of departments of my company left. Sometimes early career success can lead to the feeling of being overwhelmed. During the initial stages of my company, I did not have enough funds to hire

experienced employees for the different head of department-positions. Employees who were at the executive level and had some talent got promoted to positions such as team leaders and departmental heads just within three to four months of joining.

But as I mentioned earlier, quick success can sometimes lead to exaggerated beliefs about oneself. I can't deny the fact that they helped me a lot when the company was in its initial phase and FastInfo will always miss them. God willing, we may get the opportunity to work together again.

The time was very tough but it definitely made me learn a valuable lesson. I managed all the departments single-handedly because I had faith in myself and my decisions. Leadership is a quality not everyone possesses because they are afraid to take on the responsibility. Do not succumb to the fear of failure and at least give everything you are afraid of, a try.

Once Charles Darwin said that "it is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but the one who is most responsive to change". Adapting to the situation at hand is a very important trait and one should try to inculcate this within themselves. Always be willing to accept that things were supposed to happen the way they did whether or not you can understand why.

It is said that goodbyes hurt when the story is not finished, yet the book has been closed. One thing I regret is that I did not get a chance to say goodbye to my colleagues at St. Mary's School.

To my ex-colleagues: If you guys are reading this then I would like to thank you for teaching me some amazing and valuable lessons in life.

In 2022, I suddenly started experiencing sharp pain in my neck and when the pain became quite unbearable I visited the doctor. After conducting a series of medical tests the conclusion was that I needed to have a spinal cord operation urgently otherwise I will meet with paralysis after a month. I was ready to accept whatever the final result would be. But this time I did not want to leave without saying goodbye to people who are important to me. I do not have a lot of friends my colleagues are my friends and I am very close to some of them. So I called them and said goodbye before leaving for Chennai, where I was to be operated on. This farewell was important to me because I did not want to have any regrets later on. By God's grace, my operation was successful without any complications but the doctor advised me to rest for at least two weeks. That was troubling me as I considered my company as my baby and to stay away from it for such a long period of time seemed absurd. I read somewhere that 'everything is within your power and your power is within you, all you need to have is the will to do something or anything you desire.'

I rested for three days and then I started going back to the office. Yes, to work in the same capacity was a little difficult and I had to restrict my movements but still, at least I was doing things that were within my reach and capability at that time. Don't let situations determine your reactions, you should have the will to push through anything in life and work so hard that people start noticing you.

The thing about being in the limelight is that the world starts noticing you and keeps a look out for what you are doing and what you are not. When my business started thriving, i.e.; getting noticed by the media and gained quite a lot of customer base, the spotlight got focused on me.

On July 2022, I got nominated for the 'National Fame Awards' presented by Brands Impact for the "Businessman of the Year 2022". I was happy that finally, the world is starting to notice me and my efforts. Although ecstatic to be nominated, I was a little anxious because the final results were yet to be announced.

The award ceremony was to be conducted in Delhi on 6^th August 2022 and I had to go there and attend it. I kept thinking about the outcome of the entire journey, which made me quite restless. I wore a formal outfit, which hopefully was suited for the situation, and reached the place waiting for the evening to unfold itself. One after the other, awards were getting distributed, and when I finally heard my name being announced for the award I was overjoyed. The

award for the businessman of the year was presented to me by Malaika Arora who is a well-known Bollywood celebrity.

I think the month of August was proving to be lucky for us. As again on the ^13th of that same month, we participated in the "Startup growth story session" organised by Nasscom. Our main motive to do so was to represent my company FastInfo and we were hoping to do some networking at the event.

At the event, the senior manager of "The National Stock Exchange" approached us after knowing the growth potential of our company. He constantly encouraged us to register our company on the National Stock Exchange platform. This came when we were already thinking about going forward with such listing activities.

Seemed like life had presented us with a golden opportunity. Today we got a reason to think on a serious note about getting listed and are enthusiastic to take action fast.

Motivating the youth for life and entrepreneurship is what I am passionate about and on 30th November 2022, the

National Institute of Technology, Durgapur in collaboration with the Entrepreneurship Development Cell (EDC) invited me to be the key speaker in a session titled "Entrepreneurship and Innovation as Career Opportunity", where I got the privilege to address almost 100 aspiring entrepreneurs.

On December 2022, I got featured in World's most renowned magazine, Forbes India on their special Show-Stoppers (50 superstars) 2022-23 edition.

Work towards your goal with passion as you are the only one who will understand the battles you have to fight to follow them or the pain and suffering you have to endure along the way. Be proud of whatever you are achieving on the way toward your goal and have the courage to do things differently. Life is not going to be a straight path nor is it going to be easy but try to live it with a ruthless dedication to learning, growing, and enjoying every moment you spend on earth!

Beloved readers, I thank you once again for being a part of my journey so far. Even if my book can change one life for the better, I would consider it to be the ultimate accomplishment of my life.

Through this book I have been able to give out only a part of my life story due to my current circumstances. A lot is yet to

be shared which will be revealed in the next volume of the book. Till then, this is Rajesh Kewat signing off.