Karthik stared at the calculator in his hand.
₹1,125.
That was the total he'd saved over a month of planner sales, data entry gigs, and side work with tuition centers.
It was decent.
But nowhere near enough.
Not for what he had in mind.
Not for changing anything that mattered.
If I want to change Tamil Nadu, I need to first change my balance sheet.
The Wake-Up Call
A week earlier, the district collector's cold dismissal had shown him a bitter truth:
You can be intelligent.
You can be right.
But without capital, you're invisible.
He knew — from 2035. He had clarity.
Now, he needed cash flow. Scale. Leverage.
And he had to get it fast.
An Unlikely Meeting
He was eating a vadai outside Central Railway Station when he noticed an old shop tucked between two tea stalls.
A hand-painted sign read:
"Radio World – Repairs. Resale. Real Value."
It was dusty. Outdated.
But inside, Karthik saw something else: opportunity.
Radios. Tape recorders. Walkmans. Early calculators. Speakers. Even imported Sony cassette decks stacked like broken dreams.
A middle-aged man in a grey banian was fixing a tape recorder with focus.
"Sir," Karthik said. "Do you sell these?"
"Only some. Most are for parts."
"What if I help you sell more?"
Karthik's First Business Deal
The man's name was Ravi Master — a technician with 20 years of repair experience and no business sense.
Karthik offered a deal.
"I'll clean, repackage, and resell five pieces every week — for a 30% commission."
Ravi Master laughed. "You think these will sell?"
"I know what's coming. Audio is growing. Students want Walkmans. Families want radios. I know what to price, where to sell, and how to pitch."
By the end of that week:
Karthik resold 2 cassette decks and 1 repaired radio through a tuition center parent's connection
He earned ₹270 in profit
Small.
But scalable.
The Shift to Electronics Begins
Within two weeks, he was:
Sourcing old electronics from junk dealers in Parrys Corner
Fixing what he could using Ravi Master's bench space
Rebranding with custom stickers:
"Refreshed by Silent Seed Electronics"
Selling to tuition center parents, teachers, and young professionals
His margin?
Average ₹100–₹300 per unit.
And it was all cash.
No delays. No bureaucracy. No permits.
He tracked every transaction in a red notebook under three columns:
Source – Fix Cost – Sale Profit
By week four, he'd cleared ₹1,950 in net profit.
Turning Down the Distractions
One evening, Aravind came with news.
"Vinod's team is inviting you to co-lead a college-wide planner campaign."
"They want me to join their spotlight," Karthik said, more to himself.
"They'll print your name. Put you on posters."
"I don't want posters," Karthik replied. "I want purchase orders."
The Bigger Picture Unfolds
Rajendran noticed.
"You're disappearing from all the NGO meetings. Even Meena asked where you've been."
"I'm building the base," Karthik said, not pausing his notebook entries.
"Helping society?"
"Yes," he said firmly. "But not with charity. With power."
What the Market Was Telling Him
Karthik could see it clearly:
Every family wanted tech
Every middle-class student needed tools
Every school had electrical breakdowns
Every office needed audio and calculator support
Electronics were becoming the language of aspiration.
He planned Phase 2:
Partner with one more repairman
Lease a small counter near the bus depot
Offer free servicing to first-time buyers
Track repeat purchases
Use profits to fund two student tech kits
He wasn't trying to change the world overnight.
He was trying to own the means to do so.
The First Milestone
By the end of the second month, Karthik had:
Sold 28 electronics units
Repaired over 40
Touched ₹4,500 in saved cash
Created 3 working partnerships
Received 1 bulk order for school desk calculators
And — most importantly — stopped needing to ask his parents for money
It wasn't wealth.
But it was proof.
That a student, unnoticed by power, could start owning it.
Notebook Final Entry
"To fix society, you need reach.
To reach, you need money.
I will not wait for permission.
I will build a business so grounded,
That even the loudest lies can't shake their roots.
Electronics is just the start.
One circuit at a time —
I'm wiring the future."