Hemant R. Joshi's Blog, page 3

Hero’s journey for Deewaar

A few months ago, Saurabh and Shreya wrote down the Hero’s journey for Munna Bhai MBBS, which was helpful to me and a lot of other aspiring filmmakers! I had heard about the Hero’s journey earlier, but this was a very interesting way to break down and analyze a story. As a writer, I often wonder why some of my stories work better than others. Over the past few months, I’ve been working on refining my craft through several courses and discussions. 

I spoke to Saurabh, who, like always, was excited about analyzing another movie with me. We settled on Deewaar, a film that inspires people who study films even today. I remember watching the film years ago, so had to rewatch – this time with a writer’s lens. And the number of times I hit pause and just thought about why the scene was constructed in the way it was, I can’t even remember.  

A primer on the Hero’s journey…

In short, the Hero’s journey is a story structure that involves the hero of a story facing a challenge, crossing into an alternate world to solve that challenge, and coming back victorious.

This is popularized by Joseph Campbell, in his book – The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell outlines 17 stages that a hero goes through in his journey to this new world and back. 

You can break down many of the world’s stories using the Hero’s journey, including the great epics, the early Greek dramas and modern-day films.

Coming back to Deewaar

In our opinion, the Hero in this film is Amitabh Bachchan’s character. And from his vantage point is this Hero’s Journey being written. Read on. 

Credit – IMDb



The plot – a quick recap

Deewaar is the story of two brothers who go down separate paths as they grow up and end up in a situation where they can’t co-exist. 

Anand Verma lives with his family – his wife Sumitra Devi and sons, Vijay and Ravi. He is the local workers’ union chief, which is demanding better pay and rights for the workers. 

As the protests rise, the shrewd businessman who they are protesting against, abducts Anand Verma’s family, leaving him no choice. 

Anand is forced to pick his family or the workers’ rights. 

Like any father would, Anand Verma chooses his family and leaves aside his moral stand. The workers, who so far looked up to him end up thrashing him, leaving him hospitalized. Anand can’t handle the emotional trauma and runs away, leaving behind the mess that he’s created. His family continues to be ridiculed whenever they step out. One day, when Vijay is returning from school, some goons pick him up and tattoo his hand with “Mera Baap Chor Hai.” 

The mother decides to leave the town with the two kids. When they arrive in Mumbai, they are forced to live on the footpath and sleep under a bridge. Sumitra and Vijay (not even a teenager at this point) decide to pick odd jobs to make ends meet and give Ravi a decent education. Vijay sacrifices his own education to become a boot polisher.

One day, after getting his boots polished, a man throws a coin at him. Vijay takes a stand – he would not pick up money thrown at him. Dawar, who was accompanying this person, realizes that Vijay would do something big one day. 

Sumitra works at a construction site as a labourer, but she is barely able to do the strenuous work. Her employer gives her a hard time consistently, and when Vijay sees this, he hits him and runs away. 

All this while, Ravi is getting good grades at school. The two boys are living in distinct worlds already! 

As days pass, Vijay starts working at the docks in Mumbai. He notices how the local goons collect hafta from all the labourers. Unlike the others who continue to bend their heads, Vijay refuses to pay them. In fact, he goes into their den and thrashes them, thereby freeing up the labourers at the dock from the clutches of Samant – the man controlling the docks.

This is noticed by Dawar, who invites Vijay to join his business. Samant is Dawar’s adversary too! Without thinking twice, Vijay joins Dawar. His first assignment is to ensure that Dawar’s smuggled gold is safely brought into Mumbai. Vijay hatches a smart plan that involves duping Samant and is able to execute flawlessly. Samant pledges revenge!

Vijay’s life starts turning around – he buys his mother a better house, a better car, his clothes get better — everything in life starts seeming better. He is becoming the master of this new world, a step at a time. 

On the other side, Ravi Verma completes his education and goes away to train for being a police officer. When he returns, his first case is to finish Dawar’s smuggling businesses. Ravi realizes that he would have to catch his brother to solve the case. He refuses to take the case. In fact, he goes and asks his brother to surrender. Vijay, being Vijay, refuses. 

The brothers have a dispute over this. As the dispute worsens, even their mother decides to go and live with Ravi, leaving Vijay alone in his giant mansion. A few days later, Ravi decides to take the case again and starts nabbing Dawar’s men one after the other. Dawar realizes that Ravi must be stopped somehow. One of his gang’s members suggest killing Ravi, but Vijay stops them. 

He tries to convince Ravi to back away from Dawar’s people, but Ravi holds his ground. 

Their mother falls sick, but Vijay cannot visit her, because if he does, he would be nabbed by the cops. Vijay is distressed. Around the same time, Samant, who had pledged revenge, kills Vijay’s girlfriend. Anguished, Vijay goes to the hotel where Samant is staying and kills him. But in the process, he exposes himself to Ravi and the cops. Left with no choice, Ravi fires at Vijay.  

Vijay manages to drive away, only to hold long enough to come to his mother praying at the temple she frequents. As he takes his last few breaths, he asks him if his mother loves him. She does. 

Hero’s journey

A few disclaimers:

This is our interpretation of the Hero’s Journey for Vijay’s character. Things may be wrong! Please do point out flaws. We know this is not perfect.



Beat (i.e. a section that moves the story forward)Hero’s journey stageNotesFilm starts with a bravery medal being given to Ravi Verma. He talks about Sumitra Devi (his mom) being the reason that he got the medal. Makes the mom accept the medal.This serves as a hook into the world of Vijay and RaviFlashback – Sumitra gets back to the Hartaal where Anand Verma (her husband) is leading the hartaal. He is demanding that the labourers get a better life. They do not care about getting a lot of money
Kids say that in their school their teachers say that father is usool ka pakka. His wife says that kids look up to him. Anand mentions that he likes kids more than anything else.The ordinary worldThis scene establishes the milieu. The ordinary world. And the fact that there is this huge divide between the rich and the poor.They protest at the factory owner’s bungalow. The owner calls Anand inside and offers a deal. Along with that he blackmails Anand. “aur to kuch nahi, is tasveer ke tukde tukde kar doonga”. He has kidnapped Anand’s family. Anand has to choose between his family and the workers.
Anand Signs and goes back to his workers and says that he has sold them. The flaw in the character of Anand is showcasedEstablish the conflict in Anand’s life and sets up for a larger conflict in the life of the hero. A conflict that would eventually grow into the inciting incident for the Hero.Mom and 2 children are left in the middle of a park. They meet the father in the hospital, where everyone is making a slogan that Anand babu is a thief. When Sumitra returns from bringing medicines, she finds Anand Babu gone. He’s on a train to nowhere.
Some drunkards round up Vijay and abuse him. Vijay comes home beaten and battered and shows the tattoo to his mother.
Mother decides to move away. There is a calendar on the wall that has Mumbai’s photo. They go to Mumbai. Mother is forced to take odd jobs. They sleep under the bridge with others.Challenge from the outer worldThe hero’s life, as we know it, is about to change.One day Ravi is missing and Vijay and mother see Ravi standing at gate of the school. Vijay says that he would work as well, so that Ravi could get good education.
Vijay becomes a boot polisher.Call to adventureThe hero accepts the challenge and decides to do whatever he could do to get his younger brother educationDawar buys a racebook and gets his shoes to polish. Jaichand (Dawar’s associate) throws money at Vijay, who refuses, saying he is not a beggar. Dawar asks Jaichand to pick the money and hand it to Vijay. Also, he predicts Dawar to be a winner in his life!
Juxapose to Ravi who’s topping the school.The seed of separation between the two brothers is sowed. This is what Boman Sir calls breadcrumbing!
Also an act of standing for himself. His father couldn’t stand to his morals, maybe Vijay wants to correct it.At her construction site, the mother is thrown out from work. On seeing this, Vijay hits the Munshi and runs away.
Mother compares the two brothers. She tells Vijay that Ravi is his brother and yet so sorted. Vijay shows the tattoo and asks for an answer.The wound is shown for the first time.
Another incident where the hero is acting for his own. Wants respect. Anyone who is not going to respect him/his mother is going to have it from him.The mother takes her two kids to a temple. Vijay takes a stand for himself, stating he will not enter the temple.
Time passes and sons grow up.
Ravi asks what does mom wants. She says “tere liye sukh and Vijay ke liye Shaanti”. The two brothers go their seperate waysCrossing the first thresholdThis shows the clear juxtaposition of Vijay and Ravi. Mother already knows what the big challenges in their lives are!
By refusing to go into the temple, Vijay is protesting against the injustice in his life. He didn’t do anything wrong for the price he had to pay. Doesn’t believe in God anymore.Vijay now works at the docks. He gets a badge with the number 786 engraved. Rahim chacha tells Vijay that 786 is a good number. Tells him to keep the badge always with him. They also talk about the hafta the coolies have to pay to the owner.
A coolie, Gangu gets killed when he refuses to pay it (he has to get his sister married). Something stirs in Vijay. “Agle hafte ek aur coolie paisa dene se inkaar karne wala hai”The road of trialsVijay is challenged again. Gareebi ka jurmana is a trigger for him to fight the norm. He wants to change things. 786 ka billa is the supernatural aidRavi Verma is mock-interviewed by his girlfriend for a job. He is clearly getting nervous in front of her.
He then goes to an interview, where he almost gets selected. But then there is a phone call and the naukri goes to someone the brother in law of GM Saab.
He is aghast and as he is getting out of the room, tells another person waiting that he would waste his time if he is expecting to get a job.At the docks, Vijay refuses to pay the lowly gundas. Fights and comes out on top.
Next day, they come to beat Vijay. Rahim Chacha convinces Vijay to leave. However, Vijay goes to Peters den, hands him over the key and says that “taala main kholoonga”, beats everyone and comes out victorious.Road of trialsAgain the same characteristic shows – when someone challenges his respect, he will revolt.
The path for Vijay is full of such “trials”.As he comes home, his mom scolds Vijay and in response he says, “Tum chahti ho main bhi mu chupake bhaag jaata”Once again, Ravi almost gets a job and as he’s accepting, he sees another person that is even more struggling and gives up a job for another person. He decides to back out.
Ravi struggling to get a job, while talking just like his father – idealist and repeating the dialogues that his father would have used.
Father is spotted travelling in a trainDawar and Vijay meet and Dawar hires him.
The dialogues, “Mujhe tumhari zaroorat hai aur main tumhari har zaroorat puri kar sakta hoon” and then, “Main aaj bhi faike hue paise nahi uthata”.Meeting with the mentorDaawar acts as the mentor who helps Vijay into this new world.Ravi meets girlfriends father (who’s a cop) and he recommends that Ravi join the police forceDawar’s people meet about a new smuggled gold consignment that’s going to arrive. Vijay says that he will do it alone.
He joins Sawant in lift. The dialogue – “Suna hai lift ki deewaar ke kaan nahi hote”. They discuss how Vijay could get Sawant the consignment. It seems like Vijay is playing a double-game, dealing with both Dawar and Sawant (adversaries).
They transfer gold at a jetty and Vijay brings the gold to Samant. He collects his bounty. Says sone ke ande dene waali murgi story to Samant. He then steals the van and drives it away towards Dawar’s place.
Ravi brings all the gold to Dawar and takes 5 lakhs from him as commission.Road of trialsEstablishes Vijay as a formidable personality. And in the process he makes allies and enemies.Vijay shows a giant house to his mother. She gets suspicious of Vijay’s work. Ravi comes running and shares he got a job as a cop.
Ravi goes away for his training.Vijay is starting to see success with his efforts. This is the first false victory for Vijay.
He is getting sucked into the web.At a swanky hotel pool side, Vijay suggests they should plant someone in Samant’s gang. Plot a scheme to get Darpan recruited in Samant’s gang.
Darpan goes there and says Vijay would be at Sona bar and they can kill him. Sawant plots for that.He is continuing to make friends and enemies. In other words, he is getting sucked into the new world.Vijay meets at Sona Bar and forgets the billa. Anita comes after him and whlie handing over the billa, drops it. They bend to pick it up and the sniper misses the shot. Vijay manages to get away from the scene. Again, it is the billa that saves Vijay.This is a case of setup and payoff – the 786 billa which Rahim Chacha had set up early pays off!Dawar says he wants to take a backseat and gives his throne to Vijay. However Jaichand wanted it.Belly of the whaleAt this point, Vijay is deep into the new world. He has conquered the new world – or at least he thinks so.Ravi Verma comes back home as a police officer and announces that he has been posted in Mumbai. Maa talks about Vijay’s business and how he is busy.
Two brothers meet – Ravi asks chakkar kya hai.
Vijay is worried. Vijay laments with Anita that Ravi and he are different.There is no going back from here onRavi asks Commissioner about people that are making Mumbai hell. Commissioner introduces Mulk Raj Dawar and Vijay Verma.
Ravi is shocked. He denies to take the case. Commissioner demands an explanation. Ravi says Vijay is my brother. Ravi says “shayad main ye zimmewari achchi tarah se nibha na saku” Commissioner implores Ravi to take the case.Ravi chases a kid thief, shoots in the leg and he feels guity of that.
Goes to Chander’s house with some food and all. Tells that he shot Chander. Chander’s mom blasts the cop. Typical shoot the messenger.
Father is polite. Ravi touches his feet. This incident makes him decide to take the case.Vijay buys the building where his mom workedClassic case of “high” before the low! – Second false victory for VijayRavi and Vijay have a face-off in front of their mother. Ravi asks him to surrender and asks for the sign of brother. The iconic bhai tum sign karoge ya nahi.
The word Deewaar is introduced for the first time.
They fight over Maa but Maa decides to leave with Ravi
Vijay says I did all this for you. Maa responds “you have become the saudagar but dont try to buy your own mother”.Ravi tears the papers and goes back to Anita. See’s her saaree. She says its her maa ka sapna to see her married.Ravi says that I will take you back to Vijay. Mom tells Ravi that she loves Vijay more.An informer tells Ravi that godown has some police ka maal. Ravi tries to stop a truck while he is unarmed. He dupes the goons and says they are surrounded by cops. The goons are convinced, as he is able to nab the goons.Dawar’s gang members get together and discuss that Ravi has cracked 5 raids in 2 months. They discuss that they would kill Ravi. Jaichand proposes that Ravi be killed. Vijay admits that Ravi is his brother.The two brothers meet at the bridge where they grew up. Vijay asks Ravi to back out from the case – arguing that because of his work, he has everything in his life. Ravi refuses, saying mere pass maa hai!Refusal to returnVijay has a chance to surrender still, but he refuses to give away everything he’s earned in the new world to go back to the old one. He is refusing to go to his original world.Anand babu is found dead in a train. Ravi realizes it is their father when someone comes to report. They find a picture of family being held hostage.
Ravi stops mother from putting sindoor. Such amazing symbolism!Fire to the pyre as Vijay looks from a distanceVijay and Anita discuss how Vijay’s father died 20 years ago.On a call recording, Ravi finds about a meeting where Jaichand is present and leaves right away! He gets him to confess.
Ravi arrests Jaichand, and Jaichand gives the name of Dawar and Vijay.
Ravi arrests Dawar. Vijay manages to runs away and goes into hiding.Noticing the increased police attention, Samant says he is the one who would kill Vijay firstVijay gets to know that maa is unwell and decides that he will go to meet the mother. He goes in an ambulance but he can’t enter the hospital as there is a lot of police.
Vijay is lost and doesn’t know what to do.
He goes to the one place which he never would have – the temple his mother frequented. The dialogue – “aaj khush toh bohot hoge tum…”
Maa gets better. Mom says she wants to go to the temple. Pandit says that your son was at the temple.AtonementVijay realizes that he has dragged himself too deep into this new world and escaping is impossible now.
But he does want his mother to be well. Entering the temple is his atonement.
Note – in the actual Hero’s journey, atonement happens before the refusal to return. We see the sequence slightly altered, but the concept holds.Vijay gets to know that Maa is better now and is at home. Anita says she’s pregnant. Vijay says that he wants to get married and he will surrender. Decides to go to the temple and get married.
Vijay tells mom that he’s going to the temple and she should meet him there.Crossing of the return thresholdBecause of Anita, he has a reason to give up everything and go back to the original world. His decision to go back is crossing of the return threshold.Anita gets kidnapped.Vijay is being told of a plan to escape. He tells his gang that he would not go along with them.Vijay finds Anita is hurt. She dies in his arms. Vijay spots a cigar butt and know that it was done by Samant
Vijay storms into Samant’s hideout and kills all his men. However Samant is not there.Ravi gets to know that Vijay is on his way to kill Samant. They surround the building. However Vijay is able to kill Samant by throwing him off the top of the building.Vijay runs away. Ravi chases him.
Vijay’s 786 billa falls away. As he tries to retrieve it, Ravi comes in close and shoots.
He gets in a car and drives the car into the temple and dies in his mother’s armsMaster of the two worldsAt this point, Vijay has conquered the two worlds – he has realized that his path of gaining “respect” was not right. Even though short-lived (since he died right after), he is briefly able to get his mother’s respect too.Back to the opening scene where Ravi is getting an award. Applause.



That’s it!

Like we saw in the case of Munna Bhai MBBS, not all stages of a journey are followed in Deewaar. However, you see a clear arc of how Vijay moves from one world to another and struggles to come back. 

Please do let us know what you think about this – if you have a different interpretation, we would love to discuss. If you disagree, all the more reason to discuss with us! The primary reason for breaking down the Hero’s journey is to improve our understanding of the concept. 
Drop me a note at hemantrjoshi@outlook.com to discuss. 

The social dilemma – money or followers?

This story originally appeared in my short story series – Easy But Hard. To receive similar stories every week, sign up here.

“Bhai sahab!” Ajit said standing in front of the Bhaidaas chaat stall. Bhaidaas listened to him while flipping aloo tikkis on the hot tawaa, “Pay me 5000 rupees and I’ll post a good review of your stall on my YouTube channel. You’ll get thousands of people visiting your stall.”

Ajit had spoken to several food stall operators throughout the day, offering them a review video for different rates. Some had rejected saying they didn’t need more customers, while others didn’t want to pay such a high amount.

He had known Bhaidaas’ stall for about a year, having frequented it from time to time. Bhaidaas made palatable Aloo Tikkis. When dipped in green and red chutneys, the juicy flavour was delectable. The taste had come after operating the stall for more than ten years. Today, Bhaidaas sold about 200 aloo tikkis every day.

“And what do I do with these thousands of people?” Bhaidaas asked.

“What do you mean? Sell them more tikkis and earn more money…” Ajit responded.

Bhaidaas looked around him. His 5 feet by 2 feet thela had a giant tawaa lying on the left side, and on the right side sat dishes, cut vegetables, mashed potatoes and spices. The wooden frame of the stall was creaking from the sides and the colors had started to wear out. His eyes looked worn out as well, as if they could no longer handle the business.

“Do you think this tiny stall can handle thousands of people? If they come and I don’t have enough tikkis, what to do? I am already having a hard time managing current customers.”

“Aren’t more customers good for you? You can hire more people to handle more customers.” Ajit responded. “Think about it – I create a video that goes viral and brings you more customers, then you can expand your food stall to serve them, and in turn, they will bring more customers. It’s a virtuous cycle!”

Bhaidaas had a stoic face. As if people came to him with such proposals every day.

“And what is the guarantee that if I pay you the 5000 rupees, you will be able to bring me these many people?”

“You know that anything can go viral on the internet, right?”

“How many views does your channel get for a new video? Can you show me your YouTube channel?”

“I have made 50 videos so far. Each of them gets about 500 views on average. You can check it out here!” Ajit handed Bhaidaas the phone.

“For such a tiny number of viewers, you expect me to pay you 5000 rupees?”

“No, the point is, your videos will always be on the channel. So even if the number of views is less at the start, you never know, things can pick up any time. Social media is bizarre that way!”

“Hunh, I don’t buy it. For a 25-rupee aloo tikki, you expect me to pay you Rs. 5000 so you can bring me more people that I cannot serve.”

Bhaidaas turned around and continued with his own business.

Ajit stood there looking into his phone, hiding his disappointment. He was in flux right now – his YouTube channel, which he had started about a year ago, wasn’t exactly flying. He had not earned a single rupee from the channel yet, and the viewers were not increasing. He needed to do something to earn money and at the same time increase his following.

Bhaidaas looked at him once again. “If you actually want to help me, you should make a video and post it for free. I will pay you money for every additional person you bring from the channel. Does that work?”

“But…”

“I think that is only fair. I am not comfortable paying money without seeing results.”

“Well, what if the number of viewers is very low? The earnings I will make that way will be paltry. Amounting to nothing, actually.”

“Two minutes ago, you were arguing that anything on social media could become viral, right? If this goes viral, you will earn a lot of money. Much more than Rs. 5000. I will pay you 10 rupees for every customer your channel brings.”

“But…”

“That is the deal. Take it or leave it. I think it works out in both of our interests.”

“To me, it seems like you don’t believe in my work.” Ajit breathed heavily.

“Exactly. I don’t believe you can bring me a lot of people. So, stop asking for money that you don’t deserve. If you had lakhs of views, I could have thought about it. But now, hunh!”

Ajit became pensive. There was no end in sight to this frustrating period of his YouTube journey.

“Let me teach you something I have learned from running this business for ten years. People don’t want to pay money before tasting something. If you want them to pay you, you need to convince them about your product. When I started this stall, for about two years, I barely had ten to twenty people coming to eat every day. Every month was a slog. I had to experiment a lot with my tikkis to get them to the right flavour. Today, when people come, they are ready to eat another plate,” Bhaidaas continued, “Don’t jump the gun so fast. You have a long way to go. Hang tight and keep making videos. You will figure it out.”

Ajit turned around to leave but came back a moment later.

“Are you interested in helping me grow my YouTube channel?” he asked, “I will make the videos while you can tell me how to grow and make money from it. We can share the earnings amongst us.”

“Hm, that’s interesting. I see potential. Let me think about it,” Bhaidaas responded.

Ajit left his phone number. His face didn’t look morose as he left. More than Rs. 5000, he needed a mentor to help him grow his YouTube business.

If you liked reading this story, please share it! You can also read the previous 22 stories in the Easy But Hard collection here.

🌿Grass on the other side

Reading time = 5 minutes

This story originally appeared in my short-story series, Easy But Hard. In this series, I take a look at stories of people that are easily forgotten.

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SUbscribe nowThe other side

“Howdy?” Amar asked Sadaa after opening the door to his apartment. This was the first time Sadaa was coming to Amar’s place in Mumbai. Sadaa was traveling for an influencer summit – his first such conference in a five-year-old career.

“Sahi! Look at you, living the dream techie life.” Sadaa responded. While coming through the building’s entrance gate, he had observed the swimming pool on his left, where two kids were dipping their bodies. Further along, he had seen a volleyball court where people with protruding bellies were trying to keep the ball afloat.

“Haha, come on in, Sadaa!” Amar said.

They were seeing each other after a long time. Amar was three years elder to Sadaa in school, but both of them were part of the school dramatics club. Every year, they staged a new play at the Annual inter-school creative competitions. There was a constant tension between them each year, with both of them wanting the role the other person had played. If Amar was chosen to be the protagonist, even Sadaa wanted it. In case the antagonist’s character was much more fun, Amar wanted to snatch the role from Sadaa.

Their directors had to come up with creative ways each year to cool them down.

But this bickering ended when Amar got admitted to a college in Mumbai, far away from the school. For the next three years, Sadaa got the roles he wanted in the dramatics club, but the energy he exhibited earlier had diminished.

Amar, on the other hand, left Dramatics entirely, burdened by the rigorous coursework and intense competition at college. He occasionally got a chance to visit the Dramatics club at his college, but he could never dedicate enough time to it.

Four years later, he got a fulfilling job at a company that suddenly put him in the top income tax bracket. He moved into an apartment, starting to live on his own. His days were spent at work and nights were spent watching TV or playing video games on his new Xbox.

Sadaa, after finishing his school, went to a local college. He never cared for getting good grades or being the top performer in his class. As long as he continued to pass his exams, he felt good. He never felt energetic towards his degree in Engineering. Most of his days were spent watching YouTube, playing games on his phone, and hanging out with friends.

Until, in the fourth year of his college, he decided to start a YouTube channel of his own. He started posting hilarious videos every 2-3 days, his popularity starting to soar right away. Within a year of its launch, the YouTube channel had more than 10,000 subscribers. Sadaa was not going to look back. He had made a choice, like many others in his college, to abandon a traditional career in favour of a creative one.

After Amar went away to Mumbai, the friends met only when Amar came back home for holidays. When he did, the bickering continued, with the new topics being movies and video games. “You know, this movie was the worst thing I have ever seen,” was promptly replied with, “No it was actually good! I have watched it three times so far!”

Amar brought Sadaa a can of Coke and switched off the television.

“So, you mentioned that you’re visiting some influencer conference. What is it?” Amar asked.

“Yeah, it is a summit meant to inspire more people to launch their careers on YouTube, Instagram, and other social media platforms. I’m on their panel,” Sadaa responded, settling down on the cozy sofa.

“Wow, that is quite an achievement,” Amar replied, his tone slightly arrogant.

“Well, not sure about that… Look at your life, all set up in Mumbai. It must be amazing to have a stable job, right? You earn good money, save a lot, have weekends off, don’t have to worry about your earnings going down… all of this only because you earned a degree from a good college,” Sadaa responded as if an emotion that was suppressed in him for years was triggered.

Amar topped it off – “Yeah, why not? Just like you don’t have to worry about responding to your bosses, getting pressured to deliver results, not even being able to take a few days off, slogging every day from…”

Within minutes of facing each other, they were back. Both equally good at speaking, how they found arguments against one another had always surprised their teachers and friends at school.

“Look at that fancy degree hanging there,” Sadaa said, “You’ve always done the right things. It is hard to understand how you do it!” Sadaa said.

“And you, always the streetsmart person. I saw the pictures of that Fortuner you bought. Do you think I can afford a Fortuner in Mumbai on such a paltry salary? Even if I could afford it, heck, who would drive it in this crazy traffic?”

While arguing too, they found ways to praise each other.

“Yeah, yeah, and what about this flat you have in Mumbai? You bought it, right? Who in the world today can buy a flat in Mumbai?” Sadaa wasn’t holding back.

“Oh yeah, but what do I get for the money? Two tiny bedrooms, a small balcony where only two chairs could fit, a dining room where a dining table doesn’t fit, and a kitchen where I can’t think of having a larger refrigerator to store my drinks. What’s the point?”

They kept blaming each other, then ordered food and ate it while watching a movie. Amar went to his bedroom to read a book, while Sadaa started putting together a script for his next video. He planned to upload it to YouTube tonight.

A busy YouTuber

An hour later, Sadaa went to the bathroom, tidied his hair, and got into his character zone. He then started recording a video on his phone.

He went on for three hours, as Amar looked in astonishment. Amar stayed awake the entire time, even though he had meetings in the morning. Sadaa finished shooting the video, uploaded it to YouTube and created a post for Instagram before turning his phone off.

They both went to sleep well after 4:00 am.

The next morning, Amar left for work at 8:30 am. Sadaa woke up momentarily for saying bye before hitting the bed again. The conference started at 3:00 pm, so he had a lot of time. He woke up a few hours later, spent time checking comments and reactions to his videos before heading to the conference.

Despite being his first conference, he was able to keep the audience engaged with his story of starting the YouTube channel and growing it so big.

He was back home before 7:00 pm, but Amar was still not here. It had been more than ten hours since Amar had left home in the morning. Sadaa called him.

“I’ll need a couple more hours. Need to get something done by tomorrow,” he replied.

Sadaa realized how hard it must be to perform again and again every day. Amar had certainly built a good life in Mumbai, but Sadaa realized how hard it must have been to get here.

Both had taken different career paths, but both had to work equally hard.

If you liked this story or did not, do share your feedback! If you know anyone who would like to read this story, please share this with them.

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my short story series.

Reading time = 5 minutes

This story originally appeared in my short-story series, Easy But Hard. In this series, I take a look at stories of people that are easily forgotten.

Subscribe to add a small dose of fiction in your busy inbox.

SUbscribe now




The other side

“Howdy?” Amar asked Sadaa after opening the door to his apartment. This was the first time Sadaa was coming to Amar’s place in Mumbai. Sadaa was traveling for an influencer summit – his first such conference in a five-year-old career.

“Sahi! Look at you, living the dream techie life.” Sadaa responded. While coming through the building’s entrance gate, he had observed the swimming pool on his left, where two kids were dipping their bodies. Further along, he had seen a volleyball court where people with protruding bellies were trying to keep the ball afloat.

“Haha, come on in, Sadaa!” Amar said.

They were seeing each other after a long time. Amar was three years elder to Sadaa in school, but both of them were part of the school dramatics club. Every year, they staged a new play at the Annual inter-school creative competitions. There was a constant tension between them each year, with both of them wanting the role the other person had played. If Amar was chosen to be the protagonist, even Sadaa wanted it. In case the antagonist’s character was much more fun, Amar wanted to snatch the role from Sadaa.

Their directors had to come up with creative ways each year to cool them down.

But this bickering ended when Amar got admitted to a college in Mumbai, far away from the school. For the next three years, Sadaa got the roles he wanted in the dramatics club, but the energy he exhibited earlier had diminished.

Amar, on the other hand, left Dramatics entirely, burdened by the rigorous coursework and intense competition at college. He occasionally got a chance to visit the Dramatics club at his college, but he could never dedicate enough time to it.

Four years later, he got a fulfilling job at a company that suddenly put him in the top income tax bracket. He moved into an apartment, starting to live on his own. His days were spent at work and nights were spent watching TV or playing video games on his new Xbox.

Sadaa, after finishing his school, went to a local college. He never cared for getting good grades or being the top performer in his class. As long as he continued to pass his exams, he felt good. He never felt energetic towards his degree in Engineering. Most of his days were spent watching YouTube, playing games on his phone, and hanging out with friends.

Until, in the fourth year of his college, he decided to start a YouTube channel of his own. He started posting hilarious videos every 2-3 days, his popularity starting to soar right away. Within a year of its launch, the YouTube channel had more than 10,000 subscribers. Sadaa was not going to look back. He had made a choice, like many others in his college, to abandon a traditional career in favour of a creative one.

After Amar went away to Mumbai, the friends met only when Amar came back home for holidays. When he did, the bickering continued, with the new topics being movies and video games. “You know, this movie was the worst thing I have ever seen,” was promptly replied with, “No it was actually good! I have watched it three times so far!”

Amar brought Sadaa a can of Coke and switched off the television.

“So, you mentioned that you’re visiting some influencer conference. What is it?” Amar asked.

“Yeah, it is a summit meant to inspire more people to launch their careers on YouTube, Instagram, and other social media platforms. I’m on their panel,” Sadaa responded, settling down on the cozy sofa.

“Wow, that is quite an achievement,” Amar replied, his tone slightly arrogant.

“Well, not sure about that… Look at your life, all set up in Mumbai. It must be amazing to have a stable job, right? You earn good money, save a lot, have weekends off, don’t have to worry about your earnings going down… all of this only because you earned a degree from a good college,” Sadaa responded as if an emotion that was suppressed in him for years was triggered.

Amar topped it off – “Yeah, why not? Just like you don’t have to worry about responding to your bosses, getting pressured to deliver results, not even being able to take a few days off, slogging every day from…”

Within minutes of facing each other, they were back. Both equally good at speaking, how they found arguments against one another had always surprised their teachers and friends at school.

“Look at that fancy degree hanging there,” Sadaa said, “You’ve always done the right things. It is hard to understand how you do it!” Sadaa said.

“And you, always the streetsmart person. I saw the pictures of that Fortuner you bought. Do you think I can afford a Fortuner in Mumbai on such a paltry salary? Even if I could afford it, heck, who would drive it in this crazy traffic?”

While arguing too, they found ways to praise each other.

“Yeah, yeah, and what about this flat you have in Mumbai? You bought it, right? Who in the world today can buy a flat in Mumbai?” Sadaa wasn’t holding back.

“Oh yeah, but what do I get for the money? Two tiny bedrooms, a small balcony where only two chairs could fit, a dining room where a dining table doesn’t fit, and a kitchen where I can’t think of having a larger refrigerator to store my drinks. What’s the point?”

They kept blaming each other, then ordered food and ate it while watching a movie. Amar went to his bedroom to read a book, while Sadaa started putting together a script for his next video. He planned to upload it to YouTube tonight.

A busy YouTuber

An hour later, Sadaa went to the bathroom, tidied his hair, and got into his character zone. He then started recording a video on his phone.

He went on for three hours, as Amar looked in astonishment. Amar stayed awake the entire time, even though he had meetings in the morning. Sadaa finished shooting the video, uploaded it to YouTube and created a post for Instagram before turning his phone off.

They both went to sleep well after 4:00 am.

The next morning, Amar left for work at 8:30 am. Sadaa woke up momentarily for saying bye before hitting the bed again. The conference started at 3:00 pm, so he had a lot of time. He woke up a few hours later, spent time checking comments and reactions to his videos before heading to the conference.

Despite being his first conference, he was able to keep the audience engaged with his story of starting the YouTube channel and growing it so big.

He was back home before 7:00 pm, but Amar was still not here. It had been more than ten hours since Amar had left home in the morning. Sadaa called him.

“I’ll need a couple more hours. Need to get something done by tomorrow,” he replied.

Sadaa realized how hard it must be to perform again and again every day. Amar had certainly built a good life in Mumbai, but Sadaa realized how hard it must have been to get here.

Both had taken different career paths, but both had to work equally hard.

If you liked this story or did not, do share your feedback! If you know anyone who would like to read this story, please share this with them.

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my short story series.

Reading time = 5 minutes

This story originally appeared in my short-story series, Easy But Hard. In this series, I take a look at stories of people that are easily forgotten.

Subscribe to add a small dose of fiction in your busy inbox.

SUbscribe now




The other side

“Howdy?” Amar asked Sadaa after opening the door to his apartment. This was the first time Sadaa was coming to Amar’s place in Mumbai. Sadaa was traveling for an influencer summit – his first such conference in a five-year-old career.

“Sahi! Look at you, living the dream techie life.” Sadaa responded. While coming through the building’s entrance gate, he had observed the swimming pool on his left, where two kids were dipping their bodies. Further along, he had seen a volleyball court where people with protruding bellies were trying to keep the ball afloat.

“Haha, come on in, Sadaa!” Amar said.

They were seeing each other after a long time. Amar was three years elder to Sadaa in school, but both of them were part of the school dramatics club. Every year, they staged a new play at the Annual inter-school creative competitions. There was a constant tension between them each year, with both of them wanting the role the other person had played. If Amar was chosen to be the protagonist, even Sadaa wanted it. In case the antagonist’s character was much more fun, Amar wanted to snatch the role from Sadaa.

Their directors had to come up with creative ways each year to cool them down.

But this bickering ended when Amar got admitted to a college in Mumbai, far away from the school. For the next three years, Sadaa got the roles he wanted in the dramatics club, but the energy he exhibited earlier had diminished.

Amar, on the other hand, left Dramatics entirely, burdened by the rigorous coursework and intense competition at college. He occasionally got a chance to visit the Dramatics club at his college, but he could never dedicate enough time to it.

Four years later, he got a fulfilling job at a company that suddenly put him in the top income tax bracket. He moved into an apartment, starting to live on his own. His days were spent at work and nights were spent watching TV or playing video games on his new Xbox.

Sadaa, after finishing his school, went to a local college. He never cared for getting good grades or being the top performer in his class. As long as he continued to pass his exams, he felt good. He never felt energetic towards his degree in Engineering. Most of his days were spent watching YouTube, playing games on his phone, and hanging out with friends.

Until, in the fourth year of his college, he decided to start a YouTube channel of his own. He started posting hilarious videos every 2-3 days, his popularity starting to soar right away. Within a year of its launch, the YouTube channel had more than 10,000 subscribers. Sadaa was not going to look back. He had made a choice, like many others in his college, to abandon a traditional career in favour of a creative one.

After Amar went away to Mumbai, the friends met only when Amar came back home for holidays. When he did, the bickering continued, with the new topics being movies and video games. “You know, this movie was the worst thing I have ever seen,” was promptly replied with, “No it was actually good! I have watched it three times so far!”

Amar brought Sadaa a can of Coke and switched off the television.

“So, you mentioned that you’re visiting some influencer conference. What is it?” Amar asked.

“Yeah, it is a summit meant to inspire more people to launch their careers on YouTube, Instagram, and other social media platforms. I’m on their panel,” Sadaa responded, settling down on the cozy sofa.

“Wow, that is quite an achievement,” Amar replied, his tone slightly arrogant.

“Well, not sure about that… Look at your life, all set up in Mumbai. It must be amazing to have a stable job, right? You earn good money, save a lot, have weekends off, don’t have to worry about your earnings going down… all of this only because you earned a degree from a good college,” Sadaa responded as if an emotion that was suppressed in him for years was triggered.

Amar topped it off – “Yeah, why not? Just like you don’t have to worry about responding to your bosses, getting pressured to deliver results, not even being able to take a few days off, slogging every day from…”

Within minutes of facing each other, they were back. Both equally good at speaking, how they found arguments against one another had always surprised their teachers and friends at school.

“Look at that fancy degree hanging there,” Sadaa said, “You’ve always done the right things. It is hard to understand how you do it!” Sadaa said.

“And you, always the streetsmart person. I saw the pictures of that Fortuner you bought. Do you think I can afford a Fortuner in Mumbai on such a paltry salary? Even if I could afford it, heck, who would drive it in this crazy traffic?”

While arguing too, they found ways to praise each other.

“Yeah, yeah, and what about this flat you have in Mumbai? You bought it, right? Who in the world today can buy a flat in Mumbai?” Sadaa wasn’t holding back.

“Oh yeah, but what do I get for the money? Two tiny bedrooms, a small balcony where only two chairs could fit, a dining room where a dining table doesn’t fit, and a kitchen where I can’t think of having a larger refrigerator to store my drinks. What’s the point?”

They kept blaming each other, then ordered food and ate it while watching a movie. Amar went to his bedroom to read a book, while Sadaa started putting together a script for his next video. He planned to upload it to YouTube tonight.

A busy YouTuber

An hour later, Sadaa went to the bathroom, tidied his hair, and got into his character zone. He then started recording a video on his phone.

He went on for three hours, as Amar looked in astonishment. Amar stayed awake the entire time, even though he had meetings in the morning. Sadaa finished shooting the video, uploaded it to YouTube and created a post for Instagram before turning his phone off.

They both went to sleep well after 4:00 am.

The next morning, Amar left for work at 8:30 am. Sadaa woke up momentarily for saying bye before hitting the bed again. The conference started at 3:00 pm, so he had a lot of time. He woke up a few hours later, spent time checking comments and reactions to his videos before heading to the conference.

Despite being his first conference, he was able to keep the audience engaged with his story of starting the YouTube channel and growing it so big.

He was back home before 7:00 pm, but Amar was still not here. It had been more than ten hours since Amar had left home in the morning. Sadaa called him.

“I’ll need a couple more hours. Need to get something done by tomorrow,” he replied.

Sadaa realized how hard it must be to perform again and again every day. Amar had certainly built a good life in Mumbai, but Sadaa realized how hard it must have been to get here.

Both had taken different career paths, but both had to work equally hard.

If you liked this story or did not, do share your feedback! If you know anyone who would like to read this story, please share this with them.

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my short story series.

Reading time = 5 minutes

This story originally appeared in my short-story series, Easy But Hard. In this series, I take a look at stories of people that are easily forgotten.

Subscribe to add a small dose of fiction in your busy inbox.

SUbscribe now




The other side

“Howdy?” Amar asked Sadaa after opening the door to his apartment. This was the first time Sadaa was coming to Amar’s place in Mumbai. Sadaa was traveling for an influencer summit – his first such conference in a five-year-old career.

“Sahi! Look at you, living the dream techie life.” Sadaa responded. While coming through the building’s entrance gate, he had observed the swimming pool on his left, where two kids were dipping their bodies. Further along, he had seen a volleyball court where people with protruding bellies were trying to keep the ball afloat.

“Haha, come on in, Sadaa!” Amar said.

They were seeing each other after a long time. Amar was three years elder to Sadaa in school, but both of them were part of the school dramatics club. Every year, they staged a new play at the Annual inter-school creative competitions. There was a constant tension between them each year, with both of them wanting the role the other person had played. If Amar was chosen to be the protagonist, even Sadaa wanted it. In case the antagonist’s character was much more fun, Amar wanted to snatch the role from Sadaa.

Their directors had to come up with creative ways each year to cool them down.

But this bickering ended when Amar got admitted to a college in Mumbai, far away from the school. For the next three years, Sadaa got the roles he wanted in the dramatics club, but the energy he exhibited earlier had diminished.

Amar, on the other hand, left Dramatics entirely, burdened by the rigorous coursework and intense competition at college. He occasionally got a chance to visit the Dramatics club at his college, but he could never dedicate enough time to it.

Four years later, he got a fulfilling job at a company that suddenly put him in the top income tax bracket. He moved into an apartment, starting to live on his own. His days were spent at work and nights were spent watching TV or playing video games on his new Xbox.

Sadaa, after finishing his school, went to a local college. He never cared for getting good grades or being the top performer in his class. As long as he continued to pass his exams, he felt good. He never felt energetic towards his degree in Engineering. Most of his days were spent watching YouTube, playing games on his phone, and hanging out with friends.

Until, in the fourth year of his college, he decided to start a YouTube channel of his own. He started posting hilarious videos every 2-3 days, his popularity starting to soar right away. Within a year of its launch, the YouTube channel had more than 10,000 subscribers. Sadaa was not going to look back. He had made a choice, like many others in his college, to abandon a traditional career in favour of a creative one.

After Amar went away to Mumbai, the friends met only when Amar came back home for holidays. When he did, the bickering continued, with the new topics being movies and video games. “You know, this movie was the worst thing I have ever seen,” was promptly replied with, “No it was actually good! I have watched it three times so far!”

Amar brought Sadaa a can of Coke and switched off the television.

“So, you mentioned that you’re visiting some influencer conference. What is it?” Amar asked.

“Yeah, it is a summit meant to inspire more people to launch their careers on YouTube, Instagram, and other social media platforms. I’m on their panel,” Sadaa responded, settling down on the cozy sofa.

“Wow, that is quite an achievement,” Amar replied, his tone slightly arrogant.

“Well, not sure about that… Look at your life, all set up in Mumbai. It must be amazing to have a stable job, right? You earn good money, save a lot, have weekends off, don’t have to worry about your earnings going down… all of this only because you earned a degree from a good college,” Sadaa responded as if an emotion that was suppressed in him for years was triggered.

Amar topped it off – “Yeah, why not? Just like you don’t have to worry about responding to your bosses, getting pressured to deliver results, not even being able to take a few days off, slogging every day from…”

Within minutes of facing each other, they were back. Both equally good at speaking, how they found arguments against one another had always surprised their teachers and friends at school.

“Look at that fancy degree hanging there,” Sadaa said, “You’ve always done the right things. It is hard to understand how you do it!” Sadaa said.

“And you, always the streetsmart person. I saw the pictures of that Fortuner you bought. Do you think I can afford a Fortuner in Mumbai on such a paltry salary? Even if I could afford it, heck, who would drive it in this crazy traffic?”

While arguing too, they found ways to praise each other.

“Yeah, yeah, and what about this flat you have in Mumbai? You bought it, right? Who in the world today can buy a flat in Mumbai?” Sadaa wasn’t holding back.

“Oh yeah, but what do I get for the money? Two tiny bedrooms, a small balcony where only two chairs could fit, a dining room where a dining table doesn’t fit, and a kitchen where I can’t think of having a larger refrigerator to store my drinks. What’s the point?”

They kept blaming each other, then ordered food and ate it while watching a movie. Amar went to his bedroom to read a book, while Sadaa started putting together a script for his next video. He planned to upload it to YouTube tonight.

A busy YouTuber

An hour later, Sadaa went to the bathroom, tidied his hair, and got into his character zone. He then started recording a video on his phone.

He went on for three hours, as Amar looked in astonishment. Amar stayed awake the entire time, even though he had meetings in the morning. Sadaa finished shooting the video, uploaded it to YouTube and created a post for Instagram before turning his phone off.

They both went to sleep well after 4:00 am.

The next morning, Amar left for work at 8:30 am. Sadaa woke up momentarily for saying bye before hitting the bed again. The conference started at 3:00 pm, so he had a lot of time. He woke up a few hours later, spent time checking comments and reactions to his videos before heading to the conference.

Despite being his first conference, he was able to keep the audience engaged with his story of starting the YouTube channel and growing it so big.

He was back home before 7:00 pm, but Amar was still not here. It had been more than ten hours since Amar had left home in the morning. Sadaa called him.

“I’ll need a couple more hours. Need to get something done by tomorrow,” he replied.

Sadaa realized how hard it must be to perform again and again every day. Amar had certainly built a good life in Mumbai, but Sadaa realized how hard it must have been to get here.

Both had taken different career paths, but both had to work equally hard.

If you liked this story or did not, do share your feedback! If you know anyone who would like to read this story, please share this with them.

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my short story series.

🚚 One, two, three… sold!

Reading time – 7 minutes

This story originally appeared in my short-story series, Easy But Hard. In this series, I take a look at stories of people that are easily forgotten.

Subscribe to add a small dose of fiction in your busy inbox.

Subscribe now

“Truckwaale.com, a startup founded in 2016, once valued at over $100 million, looking to raise fresh capital.” Amit read in the newspaper while sipping another cup of tea.

One, two, three… sold!

Last night, like many other nights, Amit had stayed back at his godown to oversee the loading of three of his trucks. Mata Rani Trucking had been his life for almost twenty years now, and long nights were a part of the job. City rules didn’t permit heavily loaded trucks to enter the cities during the day. Thus, most of the loading and unloading happened at night.

But nowadays, Amit had wrinkles on his forehead when he had to work late nights. With the increased traffic and the worsening condition of roads, his drivers were often delayed. Answering phone calls from angry customers was also taking a toll on him.

Having had seven cups of tea throughout the night, acidity had not allowed him to sleep. He kept walking across the porch, thinking of several random things, checking his phone every once in a while, until the newspaper boy threw one towards him.

The Truckwaale article made him wonder how these start-ups raised money at such high valuations. An avid reader of the Economic Times, he had developed a keen interest in learning about these hot tech startups, their massive valuations, and how most of them didn’t even make a profit.

But in the case of Truckwaale, Amit knew the company’s business model well. About a year ago, he had also decided to use the Truckwaale platform to expand his trucking business. The company’s proposition was that independent fleet operators like Amit could list their trucks on their site. Anyone who was looking for trucking services could now find them online, thus helping businessmen like Amit ensure sustained demand for their trucks.

On hearing there was no fee for signing up, Amit happily listed five of his trucks on the site. He waited for a year, but only three bookings happened through the website. Truckwaale.com worked very well in the big cities, but for a city like Indore, the demand for trucks was not very high.

Amit decided to part ways from the company and focus on finding leads for his business using his tried and tested method – handing a business card to anyone he met.

The newspaper article added fuel to the bile rising in his body. Thirty years – it had taken him thirty years to build a decent-sized business with five heavy-duty and two small-sized trucks. Last year’s annual revenue was close to Rs. 50 Lakhs, with a profit of Rs. 14 Lakhs. Even if he multiplied his revenue by ten times, his business would be valued at Rs 5 crores.

How could a start-up which was founded only four years ago grow to a $100 million (roughly Rs. 740 Crore) valuation?

He had to do something about it. He picked up his phone and looking towards the sky while speaking. The wrinkles on his forehead contracted.

“Hello?” he said.

“Yes sir. This is Seema from Truckwaale.com. How may I assist you?” the lady said.

“I want to meet the founder of your company,” Amit was straightforward, “can you connect me to him?” The customer service representative was taken aback. The founder was a busy person. Even she had rarely met him 1:1 in the one year she had been working here.

“Sorry, sir, he is a little busy at the moment. Can I leave him a message instead?”

“Yes, tell him Amit Agrawal from Mata Rani Trucking called. I had to discuss some business details with him.”

“Anything else?”

“No, that’s it. Please ask him to call me back.” Amit said. He was now strolling in the small garden in front of his house.

“Thank you, sir. I will leave him a message.”

As his acidity now grew into heartburn, he turned back towards the kitchen. He had an analgesic and a spoonful of Kayam Churn. After taking a shower, he went into his bedroom and turned the air conditioner on. It was time to get some sleep.

—

He didn’t hear back from Truckwaale.com for three days. Still irked with the news article, he could no longer resist. He called the customer service line once again. This time there was a gentleman on the other end, who had a similar response.

Amit started reading more about Truckwaale’s history on the internet. It was founded, like every other start-up, by a techie who came from an IIT; had been a part of a start-up accelerator in Bangalore, after which it had raised massive funding from some Japanese venture capitalists.

The company’s business model was based on commissions. Whenever a client connected with a trucking company and placed a shipment request, the company would take 10% of the total shipment cost. In order to gain a high enough market share, however, the company was discounting its fees heavily.

The company didn’t have any other sources of revenue. There were some articles stating the company was in trouble, but in terms of raw growth, the company was not stopping its expansion plans. It had already scaled up to more than 100 cities at this point. “Expanding without making money?” Amit scoffed.

On the fourth day after the first call, he received an email from Truckwaale.com, stating that the founder of the company wanted to talk at 3:00 pm that day. A phone number was included in the e-mail.  

Amit dialed the number at 2:59 pm. After ringing three times, the phone was received.

“Haan, sir, sorry I couldn’t talk to you earlier. I looked up your company, Mata Rani Trucking. I must say, you have an impressive experience in the trucking industry.”

“Yes, I know a thing or two at this point. I had a question for you – you must have realized by now that the business model you’re following is not working for you. Although you can scale your company to thousands of transactions every month, the revenue generated would be very less. How are you thinking of profitability?”

“I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t understand.” Someone was ridiculing the founder’s entire business. How could he not be befuddled?

“I know what you’re doing. The only way to get to profitability would be to expand into the actual trucking business, rather than being a marketplace where you connect truck-suppliers with clients who want to ship materials.”

“Sorry, sir, I can’t comment on it as of now.” The founder replied while clutching his wrists.

“Okay, so you do agree that your business is in trouble. I called because I wanted to provide advice, not to learn your secrets.”

“Thank you for your support.” The founder stayed silent for a few moments. “So, in your opinion, what should we be doing?”

“Well, first of all, find some experienced people in the industry. You might have the best tech team, but trucking is a very well-established industry. Things, even if they are inefficient, have to happen in a specific way,” he paused to see if the founder reacted at all. No reaction.

“Second, buy a profitable trucking business with whatever capital you have. That will teach you so much about how to run trucking companies. Focus on scaling this company, rather than scaling your marketplace business.”

“Well… I didn’t understand your reasoning for the second point. Why should we buy a business? We don’t want to get into trucking. We only want to be a marketplace.”

“To be a good marketplace, you need to learn all you can about trucking. You can learn only so much about trucking companies by researching or talking to them. You should invest in buying a profitable, mid-sized firm, so you can actually learn how the business works.”

“And why do you think I will take your suggestion?”

“Because I know you need my suggestion right now. It took me thirty years to build my extremely profitable business. Companies like Truckwaale can get big valuations by generating investor hype, but to create a long-lasting business, you will have to trust someone like me.”

“Well, thanks for your suggestions. I will keep these in mind.” The founder’s tone remained ever-so-diplomatic, despite Amit’s harsh criticism of his marketplace business.

“Great. Also, I have a proposal for you. If you find the points I stated valuable, I’m willing to sell my business and join your company as Chief Operating Officer. I will help you get to profitability faster.”

“Wait, what?”

“No, seriously. I am not joking. Don’t follow the venture capital game. Follow the business game. Chase profits, not valuations.”

“Let me think about it,” the founder disconnected the phone.

Six weeks later, after more rounds of negotiations, Amit was making his second trip to Bangalore. Mata Rani Trucking’s trucks now had the Truckwaale branding. Amit had sold the business for Rs. 5 crore cash, and joined Truckwaale.com as COO, his sole focus being to get the company to profitability.

He no longer had to stay up all night looking at the micro-level operations for each consignment. The equity and the salary he now got far exceeded the profits he made every year with Mata Rani Trucking.

And he was confident – getting to profitability wasn’t very hard if the company stuck to the basics of business.

If you liked this story or did not, do share your feedback! If you know anyone who would like to read this story, please share this with them.

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my short story series.

Reading time – 7 minutes

This story originally appeared in my short-story series, Easy But Hard. In this series, I take a look at stories of people that are easily forgotten.

Subscribe to add a small dose of fiction in your busy inbox.

Subscribe now

“Truckwaale.com, a startup founded in 2016, once valued at over $100 million, looking to raise fresh capital.” Amit read in the newspaper while sipping another cup of tea.

One, two, three… sold!

Last night, like many other nights, Amit had stayed back at his godown to oversee the loading of three of his trucks. Mata Rani Trucking had been his life for almost twenty years now, and long nights were a part of the job. City rules didn’t permit heavily loaded trucks to enter the cities during the day. Thus, most of the loading and unloading happened at night.

But nowadays, Amit had wrinkles on his forehead when he had to work late nights. With the increased traffic and the worsening condition of roads, his drivers were often delayed. Answering phone calls from angry customers was also taking a toll on him.

Having had seven cups of tea throughout the night, acidity had not allowed him to sleep. He kept walking across the porch, thinking of several random things, checking his phone every once in a while, until the newspaper boy threw one towards him.

The Truckwaale article made him wonder how these start-ups raised money at such high valuations. An avid reader of the Economic Times, he had developed a keen interest in learning about these hot tech startups, their massive valuations, and how most of them didn’t even make a profit.

But in the case of Truckwaale, Amit knew the company’s business model well. About a year ago, he had also decided to use the Truckwaale platform to expand his trucking business. The company’s proposition was that independent fleet operators like Amit could list their trucks on their site. Anyone who was looking for trucking services could now find them online, thus helping businessmen like Amit ensure sustained demand for their trucks.

On hearing there was no fee for signing up, Amit happily listed five of his trucks on the site. He waited for a year, but only three bookings happened through the website. Truckwaale.com worked very well in the big cities, but for a city like Indore, the demand for trucks was not very high.

Amit decided to part ways from the company and focus on finding leads for his business using his tried and tested method – handing a business card to anyone he met.

The newspaper article added fuel to the bile rising in his body. Thirty years – it had taken him thirty years to build a decent-sized business with five heavy-duty and two small-sized trucks. Last year’s annual revenue was close to Rs. 50 Lakhs, with a profit of Rs. 14 Lakhs. Even if he multiplied his revenue by ten times, his business would be valued at Rs 5 crores.

How could a start-up which was founded only four years ago grow to a $100 million (roughly Rs. 740 Crore) valuation?

He had to do something about it. He picked up his phone and looking towards the sky while speaking. The wrinkles on his forehead contracted.

“Hello?” he said.

“Yes sir. This is Seema from Truckwaale.com. How may I assist you?” the lady said.

“I want to meet the founder of your company,” Amit was straightforward, “can you connect me to him?” The customer service representative was taken aback. The founder was a busy person. Even she had rarely met him 1:1 in the one year she had been working here.

“Sorry, sir, he is a little busy at the moment. Can I leave him a message instead?”

“Yes, tell him Amit Agrawal from Mata Rani Trucking called. I had to discuss some business details with him.”

“Anything else?”

“No, that’s it. Please ask him to call me back.” Amit said. He was now strolling in the small garden in front of his house.

“Thank you, sir. I will leave him a message.”

As his acidity now grew into heartburn, he turned back towards the kitchen. He had an analgesic and a spoonful of Kayam Churn. After taking a shower, he went into his bedroom and turned the air conditioner on. It was time to get some sleep.

—

He didn’t hear back from Truckwaale.com for three days. Still irked with the news article, he could no longer resist. He called the customer service line once again. This time there was a gentleman on the other end, who had a similar response.

Amit started reading more about Truckwaale’s history on the internet. It was founded, like every other start-up, by a techie who came from an IIT; had been a part of a start-up accelerator in Bangalore, after which it had raised massive funding from some Japanese venture capitalists.

The company’s business model was based on commissions. Whenever a client connected with a trucking company and placed a shipment request, the company would take 10% of the total shipment cost. In order to gain a high enough market share, however, the company was discounting its fees heavily.

The company didn’t have any other sources of revenue. There were some articles stating the company was in trouble, but in terms of raw growth, the company was not stopping its expansion plans. It had already scaled up to more than 100 cities at this point. “Expanding without making money?” Amit scoffed.

On the fourth day after the first call, he received an email from Truckwaale.com, stating that the founder of the company wanted to talk at 3:00 pm that day. A phone number was included in the e-mail.  

Amit dialed the number at 2:59 pm. After ringing three times, the phone was received.

“Haan, sir, sorry I couldn’t talk to you earlier. I looked up your company, Mata Rani Trucking. I must say, you have an impressive experience in the trucking industry.”

“Yes, I know a thing or two at this point. I had a question for you – you must have realized by now that the business model you’re following is not working for you. Although you can scale your company to thousands of transactions every month, the revenue generated would be very less. How are you thinking of profitability?”

“I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t understand.” Someone was ridiculing the founder’s entire business. How could he not be befuddled?

“I know what you’re doing. The only way to get to profitability would be to expand into the actual trucking business, rather than being a marketplace where you connect truck-suppliers with clients who want to ship materials.”

“Sorry, sir, I can’t comment on it as of now.” The founder replied while clutching his wrists.

“Okay, so you do agree that your business is in trouble. I called because I wanted to provide advice, not to learn your secrets.”

“Thank you for your support.” The founder stayed silent for a few moments. “So, in your opinion, what should we be doing?”

“Well, first of all, find some experienced people in the industry. You might have the best tech team, but trucking is a very well-established industry. Things, even if they are inefficient, have to happen in a specific way,” he paused to see if the founder reacted at all. No reaction.

“Second, buy a profitable trucking business with whatever capital you have. That will teach you so much about how to run trucking companies. Focus on scaling this company, rather than scaling your marketplace business.”

“Well… I didn’t understand your reasoning for the second point. Why should we buy a business? We don’t want to get into trucking. We only want to be a marketplace.”

“To be a good marketplace, you need to learn all you can about trucking. You can learn only so much about trucking companies by researching or talking to them. You should invest in buying a profitable, mid-sized firm, so you can actually learn how the business works.”

“And why do you think I will take your suggestion?”

“Because I know you need my suggestion right now. It took me thirty years to build my extremely profitable business. Companies like Truckwaale can get big valuations by generating investor hype, but to create a long-lasting business, you will have to trust someone like me.”

“Well, thanks for your suggestions. I will keep these in mind.” The founder’s tone remained ever-so-diplomatic, despite Amit’s harsh criticism of his marketplace business.

“Great. Also, I have a proposal for you. If you find the points I stated valuable, I’m willing to sell my business and join your company as Chief Operating Officer. I will help you get to profitability faster.”

“Wait, what?”

“No, seriously. I am not joking. Don’t follow the venture capital game. Follow the business game. Chase profits, not valuations.”

“Let me think about it,” the founder disconnected the phone.

Six weeks later, after more rounds of negotiations, Amit was making his second trip to Bangalore. Mata Rani Trucking’s trucks now had the Truckwaale branding. Amit had sold the business for Rs. 5 crore cash, and joined Truckwaale.com as COO, his sole focus being to get the company to profitability.

He no longer had to stay up all night looking at the micro-level operations for each consignment. The equity and the salary he now got far exceeded the profits he made every year with Mata Rani Trucking.

And he was confident – getting to profitability wasn’t very hard if the company stuck to the basics of business.

If you liked this story or did not, do share your feedback! If you know anyone who would like to read this story, please share this with them.

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my short story series.

Reading time – 7 minutes

This story originally appeared in my short-story series, Easy But Hard. In this series, I take a look at stories of people that are easily forgotten.

Subscribe to add a small dose of fiction in your busy inbox.

Subscribe now

“Truckwaale.com, a startup founded in 2016, once valued at over $100 million, looking to raise fresh capital.” Amit read in the newspaper while sipping another cup of tea.

One, two, three… sold!

Last night, like many other nights, Amit had stayed back at his godown to oversee the loading of three of his trucks. Mata Rani Trucking had been his life for almost twenty years now, and long nights were a part of the job. City rules didn’t permit heavily loaded trucks to enter the cities during the day. Thus, most of the loading and unloading happened at night.

But nowadays, Amit had wrinkles on his forehead when he had to work late nights. With the increased traffic and the worsening condition of roads, his drivers were often delayed. Answering phone calls from angry customers was also taking a toll on him.

Having had seven cups of tea throughout the night, acidity had not allowed him to sleep. He kept walking across the porch, thinking of several random things, checking his phone every once in a while, until the newspaper boy threw one towards him.

The Truckwaale article made him wonder how these start-ups raised money at such high valuations. An avid reader of the Economic Times, he had developed a keen interest in learning about these hot tech startups, their massive valuations, and how most of them didn’t even make a profit.

But in the case of Truckwaale, Amit knew the company’s business model well. About a year ago, he had also decided to use the Truckwaale platform to expand his trucking business. The company’s proposition was that independent fleet operators like Amit could list their trucks on their site. Anyone who was looking for trucking services could now find them online, thus helping businessmen like Amit ensure sustained demand for their trucks.

On hearing there was no fee for signing up, Amit happily listed five of his trucks on the site. He waited for a year, but only three bookings happened through the website. Truckwaale.com worked very well in the big cities, but for a city like Indore, the demand for trucks was not very high.

Amit decided to part ways from the company and focus on finding leads for his business using his tried and tested method – handing a business card to anyone he met.

The newspaper article added fuel to the bile rising in his body. Thirty years – it had taken him thirty years to build a decent-sized business with five heavy-duty and two small-sized trucks. Last year’s annual revenue was close to Rs. 50 Lakhs, with a profit of Rs. 14 Lakhs. Even if he multiplied his revenue by ten times, his business would be valued at Rs 5 crores.

How could a start-up which was founded only four years ago grow to a $100 million (roughly Rs. 740 Crore) valuation?

He had to do something about it. He picked up his phone and looking towards the sky while speaking. The wrinkles on his forehead contracted.

“Hello?” he said.

“Yes sir. This is Seema from Truckwaale.com. How may I assist you?” the lady said.

“I want to meet the founder of your company,” Amit was straightforward, “can you connect me to him?” The customer service representative was taken aback. The founder was a busy person. Even she had rarely met him 1:1 in the one year she had been working here.

“Sorry, sir, he is a little busy at the moment. Can I leave him a message instead?”

“Yes, tell him Amit Agrawal from Mata Rani Trucking called. I had to discuss some business details with him.”

“Anything else?”

“No, that’s it. Please ask him to call me back.” Amit said. He was now strolling in the small garden in front of his house.

“Thank you, sir. I will leave him a message.”

As his acidity now grew into heartburn, he turned back towards the kitchen. He had an analgesic and a spoonful of Kayam Churn. After taking a shower, he went into his bedroom and turned the air conditioner on. It was time to get some sleep.

—

He didn’t hear back from Truckwaale.com for three days. Still irked with the news article, he could no longer resist. He called the customer service line once again. This time there was a gentleman on the other end, who had a similar response.

Amit started reading more about Truckwaale’s history on the internet. It was founded, like every other start-up, by a techie who came from an IIT; had been a part of a start-up accelerator in Bangalore, after which it had raised massive funding from some Japanese venture capitalists.

The company’s business model was based on commissions. Whenever a client connected with a trucking company and placed a shipment request, the company would take 10% of the total shipment cost. In order to gain a high enough market share, however, the company was discounting its fees heavily.

The company didn’t have any other sources of revenue. There were some articles stating the company was in trouble, but in terms of raw growth, the company was not stopping its expansion plans. It had already scaled up to more than 100 cities at this point. “Expanding without making money?” Amit scoffed.

On the fourth day after the first call, he received an email from Truckwaale.com, stating that the founder of the company wanted to talk at 3:00 pm that day. A phone number was included in the e-mail.  

Amit dialed the number at 2:59 pm. After ringing three times, the phone was received.

“Haan, sir, sorry I couldn’t talk to you earlier. I looked up your company, Mata Rani Trucking. I must say, you have an impressive experience in the trucking industry.”

“Yes, I know a thing or two at this point. I had a question for you – you must have realized by now that the business model you’re following is not working for you. Although you can scale your company to thousands of transactions every month, the revenue generated would be very less. How are you thinking of profitability?”

“I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t understand.” Someone was ridiculing the founder’s entire business. How could he not be befuddled?

“I know what you’re doing. The only way to get to profitability would be to expand into the actual trucking business, rather than being a marketplace where you connect truck-suppliers with clients who want to ship materials.”

“Sorry, sir, I can’t comment on it as of now.” The founder replied while clutching his wrists.

“Okay, so you do agree that your business is in trouble. I called because I wanted to provide advice, not to learn your secrets.”

“Thank you for your support.” The founder stayed silent for a few moments. “So, in your opinion, what should we be doing?”

“Well, first of all, find some experienced people in the industry. You might have the best tech team, but trucking is a very well-established industry. Things, even if they are inefficient, have to happen in a specific way,” he paused to see if the founder reacted at all. No reaction.

“Second, buy a profitable trucking business with whatever capital you have. That will teach you so much about how to run trucking companies. Focus on scaling this company, rather than scaling your marketplace business.”

“Well… I didn’t understand your reasoning for the second point. Why should we buy a business? We don’t want to get into trucking. We only want to be a marketplace.”

“To be a good marketplace, you need to learn all you can about trucking. You can learn only so much about trucking companies by researching or talking to them. You should invest in buying a profitable, mid-sized firm, so you can actually learn how the business works.”

“And why do you think I will take your suggestion?”

“Because I know you need my suggestion right now. It took me thirty years to build my extremely profitable business. Companies like Truckwaale can get big valuations by generating investor hype, but to create a long-lasting business, you will have to trust someone like me.”

“Well, thanks for your suggestions. I will keep these in mind.” The founder’s tone remained ever-so-diplomatic, despite Amit’s harsh criticism of his marketplace business.

“Great. Also, I have a proposal for you. If you find the points I stated valuable, I’m willing to sell my business and join your company as Chief Operating Officer. I will help you get to profitability faster.”

“Wait, what?”

“No, seriously. I am not joking. Don’t follow the venture capital game. Follow the business game. Chase profits, not valuations.”

“Let me think about it,” the founder disconnected the phone.

Six weeks later, after more rounds of negotiations, Amit was making his second trip to Bangalore. Mata Rani Trucking’s trucks now had the Truckwaale branding. Amit had sold the business for Rs. 5 crore cash, and joined Truckwaale.com as COO, his sole focus being to get the company to profitability.

He no longer had to stay up all night looking at the micro-level operations for each consignment. The equity and the salary he now got far exceeded the profits he made every year with Mata Rani Trucking.

And he was confident – getting to profitability wasn’t very hard if the company stuck to the basics of business.

If you liked this story or did not, do share your feedback! If you know anyone who would like to read this story, please share this with them.

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my short story series.

Reading time – 7 minutes

This story originally appeared in my short-story series, Easy But Hard. In this series, I take a look at stories of people that are easily forgotten.

Subscribe to add a small dose of fiction in your busy inbox.

Subscribe now

“Truckwaale.com, a startup founded in 2016, once valued at over $100 million, looking to raise fresh capital.” Amit read in the newspaper while sipping another cup of tea.

One, two, three… sold!

Last night, like many other nights, Amit had stayed back at his godown to oversee the loading of three of his trucks. Mata Rani Trucking had been his life for almost twenty years now, and long nights were a part of the job. City rules didn’t permit heavily loaded trucks to enter the cities during the day. Thus, most of the loading and unloading happened at night.

But nowadays, Amit had wrinkles on his forehead when he had to work late nights. With the increased traffic and the worsening condition of roads, his drivers were often delayed. Answering phone calls from angry customers was also taking a toll on him.

Having had seven cups of tea throughout the night, acidity had not allowed him to sleep. He kept walking across the porch, thinking of several random things, checking his phone every once in a while, until the newspaper boy threw one towards him.

The Truckwaale article made him wonder how these start-ups raised money at such high valuations. An avid reader of the Economic Times, he had developed a keen interest in learning about these hot tech startups, their massive valuations, and how most of them didn’t even make a profit.

But in the case of Truckwaale, Amit knew the company’s business model well. About a year ago, he had also decided to use the Truckwaale platform to expand his trucking business. The company’s proposition was that independent fleet operators like Amit could list their trucks on their site. Anyone who was looking for trucking services could now find them online, thus helping businessmen like Amit ensure sustained demand for their trucks.

On hearing there was no fee for signing up, Amit happily listed five of his trucks on the site. He waited for a year, but only three bookings happened through the website. Truckwaale.com worked very well in the big cities, but for a city like Indore, the demand for trucks was not very high.

Amit decided to part ways from the company and focus on finding leads for his business using his tried and tested method – handing a business card to anyone he met.

The newspaper article added fuel to the bile rising in his body. Thirty years – it had taken him thirty years to build a decent-sized business with five heavy-duty and two small-sized trucks. Last year’s annual revenue was close to Rs. 50 Lakhs, with a profit of Rs. 14 Lakhs. Even if he multiplied his revenue by ten times, his business would be valued at Rs 5 crores.

How could a start-up which was founded only four years ago grow to a $100 million (roughly Rs. 740 Crore) valuation?

He had to do something about it. He picked up his phone and looking towards the sky while speaking. The wrinkles on his forehead contracted.

“Hello?” he said.

“Yes sir. This is Seema from Truckwaale.com. How may I assist you?” the lady said.

“I want to meet the founder of your company,” Amit was straightforward, “can you connect me to him?” The customer service representative was taken aback. The founder was a busy person. Even she had rarely met him 1:1 in the one year she had been working here.

“Sorry, sir, he is a little busy at the moment. Can I leave him a message instead?”

“Yes, tell him Amit Agrawal from Mata Rani Trucking called. I had to discuss some business details with him.”

“Anything else?”

“No, that’s it. Please ask him to call me back.” Amit said. He was now strolling in the small garden in front of his house.

“Thank you, sir. I will leave him a message.”

As his acidity now grew into heartburn, he turned back towards the kitchen. He had an analgesic and a spoonful of Kayam Churn. After taking a shower, he went into his bedroom and turned the air conditioner on. It was time to get some sleep.

—

He didn’t hear back from Truckwaale.com for three days. Still irked with the news article, he could no longer resist. He called the customer service line once again. This time there was a gentleman on the other end, who had a similar response.

Amit started reading more about Truckwaale’s history on the internet. It was founded, like every other start-up, by a techie who came from an IIT; had been a part of a start-up accelerator in Bangalore, after which it had raised massive funding from some Japanese venture capitalists.

The company’s business model was based on commissions. Whenever a client connected with a trucking company and placed a shipment request, the company would take 10% of the total shipment cost. In order to gain a high enough market share, however, the company was discounting its fees heavily.

The company didn’t have any other sources of revenue. There were some articles stating the company was in trouble, but in terms of raw growth, the company was not stopping its expansion plans. It had already scaled up to more than 100 cities at this point. “Expanding without making money?” Amit scoffed.

On the fourth day after the first call, he received an email from Truckwaale.com, stating that the founder of the company wanted to talk at 3:00 pm that day. A phone number was included in the e-mail.  

Amit dialed the number at 2:59 pm. After ringing three times, the phone was received.

“Haan, sir, sorry I couldn’t talk to you earlier. I looked up your company, Mata Rani Trucking. I must say, you have an impressive experience in the trucking industry.”

“Yes, I know a thing or two at this point. I had a question for you – you must have realized by now that the business model you’re following is not working for you. Although you can scale your company to thousands of transactions every month, the revenue generated would be very less. How are you thinking of profitability?”

“I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t understand.” Someone was ridiculing the founder’s entire business. How could he not be befuddled?

“I know what you’re doing. The only way to get to profitability would be to expand into the actual trucking business, rather than being a marketplace where you connect truck-suppliers with clients who want to ship materials.”

“Sorry, sir, I can’t comment on it as of now.” The founder replied while clutching his wrists.

“Okay, so you do agree that your business is in trouble. I called because I wanted to provide advice, not to learn your secrets.”

“Thank you for your support.” The founder stayed silent for a few moments. “So, in your opinion, what should we be doing?”

“Well, first of all, find some experienced people in the industry. You might have the best tech team, but trucking is a very well-established industry. Things, even if they are inefficient, have to happen in a specific way,” he paused to see if the founder reacted at all. No reaction.

“Second, buy a profitable trucking business with whatever capital you have. That will teach you so much about how to run trucking companies. Focus on scaling this company, rather than scaling your marketplace business.”

“Well… I didn’t understand your reasoning for the second point. Why should we buy a business? We don’t want to get into trucking. We only want to be a marketplace.”

“To be a good marketplace, you need to learn all you can about trucking. You can learn only so much about trucking companies by researching or talking to them. You should invest in buying a profitable, mid-sized firm, so you can actually learn how the business works.”

“And why do you think I will take your suggestion?”

“Because I know you need my suggestion right now. It took me thirty years to build my extremely profitable business. Companies like Truckwaale can get big valuations by generating investor hype, but to create a long-lasting business, you will have to trust someone like me.”

“Well, thanks for your suggestions. I will keep these in mind.” The founder’s tone remained ever-so-diplomatic, despite Amit’s harsh criticism of his marketplace business.

“Great. Also, I have a proposal for you. If you find the points I stated valuable, I’m willing to sell my business and join your company as Chief Operating Officer. I will help you get to profitability faster.”

“Wait, what?”

“No, seriously. I am not joking. Don’t follow the venture capital game. Follow the business game. Chase profits, not valuations.”

“Let me think about it,” the founder disconnected the phone.

Six weeks later, after more rounds of negotiations, Amit was making his second trip to Bangalore. Mata Rani Trucking’s trucks now had the Truckwaale branding. Amit had sold the business for Rs. 5 crore cash, and joined Truckwaale.com as COO, his sole focus being to get the company to profitability.

He no longer had to stay up all night looking at the micro-level operations for each consignment. The equity and the salary he now got far exceeded the profits he made every year with Mata Rani Trucking.

And he was confident – getting to profitability wasn’t very hard if the company stuck to the basics of business.

If you liked this story or did not, do share your feedback! If you know anyone who would like to read this story, please share this with them.

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my short story series.