The Start-Up Life - A Wife′s Narrative
September 9th, 2017 By Sweta Naudiyal
"Start-up" "Entrepreneurship" "Quit the job" "Back to India"
These words had been floating around in our house for more than a year. Oh Yes, he was planning to quit his job to establish a start-up back home in India. Right after our marriage in 2011, I along with my husband migrated to USA due to his work commitments. After living there for about half a decade, the decision to move back wasn′t an easy one to make, even on a personal front. There were lots of things that we would miss (I will cover that aspect in my next blog) from this chapter in life while starting a new one - The Start-up Life
Manoj quitting his job was the first step towards our new beginning; I can only imagine how tough it would have been for him. Earning in numbers and spending in numbers is what every corporate worker does and so did we. Imagine if that earning suddenly stopped and you realised that there was no salary waiting for you on the 1st of every month.
We had been married for 5 years by then and I had always seen my husband as a cool guy who enjoyed life to the fullest. He was very sincere and dedicated towards his work during weekdays and a completely changed man during weekends. Be it taking me out to fancy restaurants for dinner, or going to my favourite shopping destinations, or going on long drives or late night movies, he was full of life.
Sometimes he would wake up early in the morning (long before sunrise) and leave for a nearby lake or park with his camera to capture the rising sun. But he also had this other side to him. There were days when he would become a complete couch potato, binge watching his favourite Netflix originals and back to back movies. No matter how many times I asked him to go out, he would not respond whatsoever. Nevertheless, we lived a good life there.
Finally the day came; it was his last working day in his corporate job. I still have very clear memories of that day. I had even sent him an emotional email, thanking him, his company and his job for the wonderful time. Everything had played a huge role in our beautiful journey. We were aware that we had to undergo a lot of life style changes once we moved back. But it was also true that we had almost no idea on how we would deal with those changes. But since we were going for the larger objective in life with our hearts and minds in one place, we felt happy and peaceful from the inside.
Starting something from scratch was very tough, much tougher than what we had imagined. From working in an air conditioned office to roaming around on the city streets, market to market, area to area during the peak of an Indian summer was not an easy job. Finding a place for our office led him to meet and deal with all kinds of people, from the good to the not so good. There were days when he used to come back home, completely tired with no energy left to even eat dinner. As his wife, it was not easy to see him in such discomfort. I could not offer much at that stage apart from making a few phone calls and scheduling his meetings. On top of that, I had our year old son to look after, which was a full time job in itself. Days and then months passed by as the start-up began to take shape. Manoj worked really hard every day, finally gathering a team of smart, talented people and constructed a new office for Arohar Technologies.
It may sound like the end but it was just the beginning. The hard work was just starting; long working hours, sacrificed weekends, sleepless nights awaited us. After a year of untiring efforts, Arohar Technologies launched our GST compliant software TaxSo on 1st July 2017. It was well received by the audience gathered for the launch event. A small success was surely celebrated.
Though it′s a long journey and the road ahead is not going to be easy; looking back on his achievements, it is fair to say that I am extremely proud of my dear hubby for what he has done and accomplished so far.
Everyone loves their family and so do we. Returning home was a very conscious decision that we took. As they say –
This quote summarizes our story of chasing the dream along with the love of our parents, our family.
Thank you for reading. Till next time.
Previous Article: TaxSo Goes To Market
Next Article: Emerging Ecosystem in Tier II Cities