From ‘son of the soil’ to high-tech virtual world

Take this- A located in Kotkasim of Alwar district, Rajasthan with a geographical area of 608.6 hectares and a total population of 2,324 peoples. The nearest town, Rewari, is approximately 24km away. Remote wouldn’t you say? Not if you know that the village has higher literacy rate compared to Rajasthan. In 2011, literacy rate of Kanharka village was 80.18 % compared to 66.11 % of Rajasthan. The male literacy stands at 92.66 % while female literacy rate is at 66.60 %.

Brace yourself for more as we tell you that Kanharka boasts of being home to the second youngest web developer of India, a web developer, cyber security expert, an ethical hacker and an entrepreneur who has initiated his startup at the age of 15. Meet Nitesh Yadav, son of an agricultural labourer, Raj Kumar Yadav, creating some sparky ripples in the nascent ecosystem of Indian start-up.

In a live chat on Skype Nitesh narrated his story to Baishali Mukherjee - a narrative that verges on improbability while being established with glorious evidences, facts and figures. Read on!

Smart phones were not something that I grew up playing with, none did in my village. It was a chance encounter with a man from a distant town introduced me to the gadget, and fascinated me immediately. I was 13 then and was enamoured by the magic of the machine. My attraction turned into obsession and after a month long importunate requests and demands, my father agreed to buy me a very basic smart phone – the Aladdin’s lamp for me! My life changed irrevocably.

After some initial manipulation I deciphered that it has more technology into it than my ability and learning could fathom. Though keen to learn the a-b-c-d of app making, pecuniary conditions thwarted my yearnings. But learn I had to hence I resorted to another phase of persistent pleading. The result?  A laptop! The hunger to delve deep into the dynamics of the magic of app making finally got its provisions – Google! I googled to glory and learnt everything about coding in a rapid pace.

Once armed with the secret I started developing apps in tandem. Today I have successfully launched 10 android apps, more than 14 websites, developed several technical manuals, given countless lectures, and held numerous workshops and seminars. My First App Was "Mera Kanharka" which connects my village with digitally and one can get details of my village by downloading it. Today there are 35k+ downloads for the Kisan Guru app and 570 for Mera Kanharka app, while the total downloads of all my apps has reached 45,000.

I initiated my software development company Named Techsicon, in 2016, which aims at promoting businesses as brands and by developing bots, apps, website for clients. If things work out as planned, Kang Aditya Group Of Companies will soon invest in my projects. I am also all set to establish an NGO, which will train Indian students in web development and robotics. This will be my contribution to digital India while giving me the satisfaction of facilitating learning for fellow Indian youth who like me often don’t have access to digital knowledge. I am also taking regular Skype classes to teach web designing and robotics prototypes.

My school has always encouraged and supported me in my initiatives and I was awarded by the principal after the launch of my first app.  My village and my community also appreciate my endeavour in the digital domain, and shepherd other young boys and girls towards digital learning. Central minister Sharad Yadav has also awarded me for my successful attempts in digital technology. Very recently my initiatives witnessed recognition at the international platform and corporate like Google, Nasscom, and Programming Hub appreciated my contributions by inviting me to share my experience with them.

As I grow I am keen to take my village with me. Digital learning was a prejudice in my village as awareness was limited. I faced serious challenges when I tried to impart my learning to the village boys. However, with time and my success validating my intent, the situation has now changed for better. Kanharka is going digital very rapidly and I am happy to be a change agent of my village.

Are circumstances really a barrier to individual growth, in today’s world? Please put in your comments.