A story of poverty, a guy who can inspire you!
















whole story from his own word:-

 It feels suffocating.

I belong to a middle class family and had never seen 'real' poverty during my childhood. Yes, I had a Hercules bicycle. Yes, I was given good education. Yes, I would go to Disney Land once a year. Yes, my parents would take me on holidays. I had a TV video game and a huge collection of cartridges that my mom had bought for me when I scored good marks.

Then I entered college. My sister's marriage was planned, my dad bought an apartment and had to pay my fees for engineering. All three events happened in a quick succession and then suddenly, we were in debt.

Somehow, we got scammed and got ourselves chained into bank loans and then, poverty crept in. It all happened in such a rush that it felt as if I had to jump from an airplane without any preparation and learn to fly as I fell, or else, I'd be dead.

During a time span of 2 years (2008-2010), I had to fight poverty on my own. Here is a crux of what happened:

- No money to pay college fees? Figure out a way to earn money all by yourself.
- No money to pay for daily transport? Walk.
- No money for entertainment, movies or parties? Ask your friends for a smoke.
- No money for anything except basic food.
- Worst of all, deal with the hassles of the bank. They would send 'bouncers' to my house to recover the EMI amount and I would have to guard my mom. I was once, beaten in my neighborhood in front of everyone for not being able to pay the EMI amount for a couple of months. I had to sell house furniture, gold, and what not.

I told my father that pursuing my education was not worth it given the crisis situation, and that I should take up a job and earn money for the family. To this, my father said, "Son, you can make money whenever you want to but you won't be able to learn later. This is a difficult time, don't worry. I myself could not study further and had to take up a job at 18 so that I could feed a family of 10 which included my brothers, sister, parents. I won't let it happen with you. We will somehow manage through it; just do your thing."

The year was 2008. My monthly expenses ranged between Rs. 900-1500 (including food). My engineering fees was Rs. 7000 per month; on the other hand, my family was fighting debt. In Lakhs. Each month, the debt would increase because of the education fee. Imagine the condition of a 22 years old guy who has never seen poverty in his life, sitting with friends who would spend thousands on beer parties, and live on their mercy. 

I was literally beaten and broken because I had no idea about how to generate money while I was still a student. 

I sat for interviews for a BPO. Rejected. 
I sat for interviews for part-time jobs. Rejected. 
Applied for a teaching job. Rejected. 
Every door that I knocked on, I was turned away.
Every relative/ friend I asked for money from, slammed the door on my face.

There was a point of time in my life when I had just Rs.10 in my pocket for emergency or just in case, I needed to make phone calls from a local telephone booth. I would walk on the streets for days because I didn't have enough money to afford riding in a rickshaw. I would have to sustain on water when I was hungry and try to save as much as possible. I would work for hours in a data entry job and get paid Rs.1 for filling up forms. This way I earned Rs 80-100 a day. I saw my father giving up his scooter to save fuel costs. I saw my mom giving up attending family occasions. I saw my sister selling her jewelry. And I cried in the bathroom. Alone. For months. 

When disaster comes, it comes with a battalion from all directions, all at once.

My girlfriend left me when I needed her the most. She said, " You yourself are in trouble and without a job. How will I present you in front of my family?" 

I lost her. I loved her; she was the only thing that made me smile but I lost her. For money. 

I had died many deaths in those two years but this was the hardest blow. Losing the love of your life because you don't have enough money. I remember our last meeting. It was raining and we were standing below an asbestos shed, enjoying an alpenliebe as that was the only thing I could buy for her.



This shit was so painful that I almost gave up on everything. Weird thoughts started hitting my mind. 

Meanwhile, I got a Govt. job which I did not like. I walked away. I was already broke, beaten and pushed to the corner but I chose to walk away. Somewhere inside my hear,t I still had hope. I knew that this was a temporary bad phase and that 'This too shall pass'. But I could not allow mediocrity to creep in. I had a dream and a temporary crisis was no excuse for giving up on my dreams and settling for mediocrity.

Here is the resignation letter (some portions have been blurred for privacy)



Crestfallen. Defeated, what were my options now?


Mission statement: Raise money as rapidly as possible and repay the debt.

  • Government sector - This is full of horse shit. I mean, you know the kind of shit I am talking about.
  • Private sector - No degree. No experience. No skills. Shitty resume. Bad idea. 
  • Part time jobs - Possible but not scalable as they are low paying. Won't be able to scale rapidly.
  • Business - Scalable but read mission statement again. No money in the first place. How do I start a business without money? Are you kidding me?
They say when you have hit your lowest point, you're bound to make the greatest change. That is the point when you realize that you've got nothing more to lose and then the animal within you comes out.

Solution: Start a business which does not require initial investment. But this model should be able to scale itself rapidly. In short, the rate of its scaling should be higher than the rate at which the loan scales. Also, there should be some kind of virality associated with it so that it spreads itself without my having to spread it.

Weapon: Internet and Time. Now let's get some shit done.

I made up a website with 700 INR. Fuck, I did not have Rs. 700 to buy a domain name. I bought it on debt again. Here is a bill which is very close to my heart.....(it says Rs 275 in debt)



I didn't succeed in the first go. I had ZERO technical knowledge on how to build a website. But that was not going to stop me because I didn't have any other option. My survival depended on this and I had to do it, come what may.

My first website didn't pick up. Failed.

I made a second one. It didn't work either. 

I made a third website. Failed. 

Devastated, I gave it a fourth try. Countless hours spent googling, coding, writing and building it. I remember those days when I used to lock myself in a balcony and google all day long. Days, nights, and weeks, I toiled like a madman; I suffered from Jaundice and lost 14-20 Kgs. That was the time when I realized what hard work meant.

First month, I made $1.29. Second month, I made $8. Third month I made $21.

And then some more. And then some more. And then some more...

When a wolf smells blood and flesh around, it becomes a dangerous beast. I had smelled my flesh and I jumped on my prey with all I'd got.

I generated $40,000 in two years. For the curious and those who doubt my story in their comments - I didn't raise it from a single website, there were some small sites as well. Also, I did a good amount of freelancing. This was to ensure that I had multiple ways of generating money, should the main site crash. The site did suffer a major blow but by that time I had solidified my basement.

Here is a picture of my balcony where I used to work on my website and other things (yes a CRT monitor and a broken laptop which college authorities had gifted me)




I had not wanted to share the stats. But after some people requested for it, here goes the journey of the website.




Adversity causes some men to break, others to break records.

I paid off the whole debt. Even saved a bit.

Today, I work at LinkedIn and it's like a dream come true for me. 

No, I am not an MBA. I am not an IITian either. Nor did I go to U.S. to get a degree from an Ivy league university. No, I did not get the job through campus placement. Neither did I make it through employee referral. I am just another average graduate from just another average engineering college. I just did one thing and did it well. I put my heart and soul into what I really wanted to do.

(I am at the extreme left, red kurta and dhoti. Colleagues are overjoyed on cultural day. More pics here Cultural Day @ Slideshare/LinkedIn Delhi)

But the lessons I learned in those two years have helped me shape my character and be a better person. Those were the longest and the hardest 2 years I will never be able to forget. But also the most worthwhile time of my life so far.

I don't waste money now. No show off. Yearly vacations - Yes. Weekend parties - No. No costly gadgets. I don't buy shit I don't even need. I don't buy 'branded' stuff just because every other clueless idiot is doing it. No. I don't. 

Lesson learned the hard way - Be grateful for what you have.

These days, my parents are looking for a bride for me. When the girl's father asks for my salary, I smile and say "I hope your daughter gets a wealthy guy. Because I know money matters. Every single rupee counts."

When I return home in flight, a part of me cries. Not because I am spending money on traveling which can be done in train. I feel bad thinking someone on this planet needs this money to feed himself. And here I am, traveling in a jet to save time because I am short on leave.

Lesson: Be kind, for everyone out there is fighting a hard battle.

Edit: Thanks for all the upvotes. Here is sharing the first cheque I received for my website. This was that day when I cried the most.  

Whenever I am in trouble, I open my archive and see this cheque. This gives me all the strength that I need.



Some tips to graduates, students who are yet to enter "real world"

1. Lead a loan free life. Need a car? Wait. Don't jump into an EMI. Save and then buy the car. Avoid banks as much as possible. No credit cards, I don't need cashback and other things. Want to study abroad? Don't take huge educational loan. If at all you take loans, have something to fall back on. Money is fire, you gotta be careful. Save. Every month Pay Yourself First

2. Make mistakes. Fail, fail fast and make it public. Don't drag it on. I wouldn't have succeeded in this wild venture had I listened to people telling me I write shitty articles. In fact, all I wrote for the first year was pure garbage. But here is the thing. I didn't stop. I kept pressing on because I had no time.

3. Do not be ashamed of your situation. I could have written it Anonymously, so that my Facebook friends never know how miser my life was. But No. I am not ashamed of the truth. Accept life as it is.

4. Do not compare your life with anyone.

I see a new trend, People comparing their life with IITans and IIM graduates. As if, IITans don't have any struggle in life. As if IIM graduates are the happiest people. Trust me, its a myth. They too have challenges, they too have problems in their life. Keeping the expectation of society because you're an IITan or IIM graduate is no easy feat. The moment an interviewer sees the word IITan on a resume, he himself prepares the toughest questions. If you compare your life with someone else's, you will not achieve peace.

5. Do something on your own. However small or big, doesn't matter. Do something completely from scratch and learn how to sell that thing. This will teach you lessons you will use for the rest of your life.

This will also give you huge confidence. I don't have any fear in my mind. Fear of what? The worst that can happen is that I will lose my day job. So what? I have worked on my own for 3-4 years without any help and have overcome a huge financial crisis on my own, without a job. So if I am in trouble again, I know how to make my way.

6. Help people as much as possible. My friend Soumen Halder was with me during that tough phase. WE have had many fights. But he was there. When the storm had settled down at my end, he was going through a tough time. I pulled him out and secured him a position at a startup I was working. 


7. Failure is acceptable. Every single person fails. You know what's not acceptable? NOT TRYING. I see most people giving up without even trying in the first place.

So you hate your job. What are you doing to find something you love? You dedicate so much to your girlfriend, you spend hours chatting on Facebook, you go to weekend parties and then on Monday morning, you are ready with your excuses. Stop pretending. Yes You, I am telling this to you. Stop being a hypocrite to yourself. Yes, I am angry and shouting because I know you're not giving your 100%.

You keep feeding excuses to your brain everyday. Things like - "I don't find time to do this. I don't have 60%, I won't be able to sit in some campus placement interview, I am a loser. She will leave me, my parents, he is lucky because he has an MBA, I don't have a rich father, recession is coming, not many companies are hiring electrical engineers, everyone is shooting for IT companies. I must get some money to pursue MS from US, otherwise it will be impossible to succeed.....I am a girl and I cannot survive outside my home because of rising crime against women, I am this I am that...." FUCK..!

WTF dude? WTF are you thinking? You need a massive thrashing from life. Someone must tie you with a rope and beat you up like shit, then you will do it. You dumb ass, stop telling yourself those imaginary lies. Stop cribbing over your misery. Stop crying over your weaknesses. JUST DO IT. You're not a kid who cries over a fucking lollypop. Get off your ass...!!!!!

8. Life is hard. Remember that dialogue from Rang de Basanti,

“Gate ke is taraf hum life ko nachate hain, to dujji taraf life humko nachati hai”



I don't care who you are and how much money you have, life will bring you down on to your knees and keep you there if you let it. Be prepared. Value relationships: you will need them some day.

What has poverty taught me?


Here is the thing I have learned from poverty, being broke, establishing a small business from scratch. Money is not everything in life. Neither is your job title. Nor is your MBA degree. Life is much more greater than these petty things. Life is all about the experiences you make. I could have sat at home and pursued my website, made more money but I would have missed out on experiences which are far more valuable. 25-35 is that time of your life when you can explore and do whatever you want. If you give up your freedom for money, one day you may have to regret it. You're going to die anyway, so the amount of money in your bank account is useless. Make experiences, not wealth. Money is important and it matters but far more valuable is gaining experiences, inviting challenges, accepting how life unfolds. Live in different cities, work on small jobs, you will see the true color of life. You will never be able to realize this if you stay within your comfort zone. Get out of your comfort zone and do stuff you're afraid to do, do things you want to do.

Hey guys, this is the end of his word, now let me tell you Some People you can take inspiration from

When you have an empty pocket, you will need inspiration.




Here is a small list of entrepreneurs and technology bloggers I know whom you can refer for inspiration

This list is endless and I can go on and on. More awesome people here
The Best Indian Bloggers

I have share this story for that soul who is in trouble and needs inspiration. I know that soul is reading it and I know that soul will one day thank me for this. That is all.

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