Aarav sat at his desk late into the night, the blue light from his laptop reflecting off his tired eyes. The office was quiet now—Ritu had left after squashing a frontend bug, Rakesh had caught the last metro, and Priya had pinged her final support ticket with a simple "Sorted. :)"
But Aarav was wide awake.
In front of him was a partnership proposal from an NGO working with tribal farmers in Chhattisgarh. They had spices, herbs, and essential oils that were high in demand—but zero digital access.
Beside that was another tab: an invitation to speak at a startup networking event in Delhi—StartupSparks. Chief guests, media, even a few investors were expected to be there.
**System Prompt:You are at a crossroads.Option 1:– Attend StartupSparks– Expand urban network, attract more capitalSuccess Probability: 82%
Option 2:– Visit Chhattisgarh NGO– Build rural-first pipeline, establish unique supply moatSuccess Probability: 96%
Recommendation:Go to Chhattisgarh. Capital follows originality.**
Aarav didn't hesitate.
Two days later, he was on a train to Raipur, packed with a backpack, his laptop, and a jute file full of vendor onboarding kits. He didn't book a flight. Flights were for people who were in a hurry. He was here to build something that would last.
At the NGO's field office, he was greeted by a wiry man named Mahesh, who handed him a steel glass of buttermilk and smiled.
"You're the Rootlink guy?"
Aarav smiled. "That's me."
For the next two days, they traveled to remote villages where roads ended in dust, and mobile signals were shaky at best. Aarav met farmers who were growing lemongrass, turmeric, and forest-sourced herbs like giloy and ashwagandha.
Their hands were cracked, their stories long. But their products? Pure, clean, potent—and untouched by middlemen.
One tribal woman, Amma Devi, handed him a bottle of hand-pressed neem oil and said in Chhattisgarhi, "We don't want donations. We want buyers who pay fair."
The System buzzed in his mind like a heartbeat.
Verified Supply Opportunity: Tier-1 Quality Neem OilProduction Capacity: 120 litres/monthPrice Advantage: 26% under current marketImpact: 47 families
Aarav looked at Mahesh. "We're going to onboard them. Give them a price, a QR code, and a promise."
Mahesh raised an eyebrow. "Promise?"
"That we'll never make them invisible again."
Back in Gurgaon a week later, the office looked a little different. Posters on the wall. A new coffee machine. And a nervous intern trying to assemble a desk lamp.
But what stood out was a bouquet on Aarav's desk.
Aanya was waiting, smiling with folded arms. "StartupSparks went great. You were the only one missing. But guess who won the spotlight pitch award?"
Aarav blinked. "We weren't even there."
"You weren't," she said. "But your product was."
She handed him a letter from the organizer: "Rootlink – The Startup That's Redefining Indian B2B Commerce from the Ground Up."
The System chimed again.
New Milestone Unlocked:Rootlink recognized as "Startup to Watch" by industry peers.Impact Clusters Established:– Rajasthan (Handicrafts)– Gujarat (Spices)– Chhattisgarh (Medicinal Herbs)– Haryana (Dairy & Agro)
Next Mission:– Prepare for Series A Readiness– Build Mobile App v2.0 (with multilingual support)– Create Founder's Transition Plan from Operator to Visionary Leader
Aanya leaned in. "So, what's next, Boss?"
Aarav looked around the room—his team, his people, his world.
He smiled softly.
"We stop being a startup. And start becoming a movement."
That night, as he returned home, his mother was waiting with hot rotis and his sister humming a new Bollywood song in the kitchen. His father was reading the newspaper, and didn't even look up when he said, "Saw you in the paper today. Good photo. Comb your hair next time."
Aarav laughed. "Yes, Papa."
He sat down at the table with a full plate and a fuller heart.
Because somewhere between dusty train rides and digital dashboards, he had found something worth protecting. Something rooted, something real.
And he knew now:
He wasn't building a business.
He was rebuilding belief.