Chapter 9: Roots and Wings

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The third year began not with lectures or lab sessions but with an idea.

Aditya stood before the student innovation panel with his hands slightly trembling but eyes burning with vision. His voice was steady as he pitched the idea that had taken shape during the summer abroad:

"An affordable solar-powered irrigation system with IoT integration for real-time control. Designed for marginal farmers in low-resource areas."

The panel, composed of professors and alumni, asked tough questions. Aditya answered each with a mix of technical depth and human empathy. When the session ended, there was a pause.

Then came the approval.

Funding. Lab access. A dedicated student team.

Project title: *Project KrishiNet.*

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Aditya's team included some familiar faces: Rakesh from his hostel, Neha from Electronics, and Kabir from Mechanical. Together, they began building.

Their aim: an end-to-end smart irrigation controller powered entirely by solar energy, remotely operable through a low-bandwidth mobile app, with moisture sensors and automatic shutoff features.

Their motto: *Empowering the roots with the wings of technology.*

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The journey wasn't easy.

Components overheated. Moisture sensors failed under real conditions. The solar panel efficiency dipped during monsoons. Days passed without progress.

But Aditya remembered Berlin.

He taught himself how to troubleshoot solar regulators, learned Python scripting for app development, and reached out to alumni working in agritech firms for advice.

He started waking up at 5 AM, spent hours in the lab, skipped parties, and often fell asleep with code still running on his laptop.

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One evening, as he sat outside the hostel alone, sipping lemon tea, Isha joined him.

"You've been distant," she said.

"Just... focused," he replied.

She looked at him. "Focused is good. But don't burn out. Even trees grow best with sunlight and rain."

He smiled, grateful.

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By November, the first prototype was ready.

They tested it on a small university patch. The app-controlled system watered the crops based on real-time soil data. The response was seamless.

Aditya recorded a demo and sent it to his professors. Within a week, they were invited to present at *AgroTech India Expo 2025*.

---

Meanwhile, classes went on. Subjects like Digital Signal Processing, Embedded Systems, and Power Electronics filled his schedule. He still kept up—barely.

His grades dropped slightly. His professors noticed.

One of them, Dr. Naresh, pulled him aside.

"You have potential, Aditya. But balance your ambition. Excellence isn't about choosing one thing and dropping another. It's about integrating both."

The words stayed.

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He restructured his time, delegated tasks better within his team, and took weekends off to reconnect—with friends, with Isha, with himself.

They went on long evening walks, discussed architecture, sustainability, the future of cities.

She showed him how buildings breathed.

He showed her how wires spoke.

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At AgroTech India Expo in Hyderabad, Project KrishiNet was a hit. Attendees from agri-industries, NGOs, and policy circles showed interest.

A startup incubator offered seed funding. A farming collective from Odisha requested a pilot.

Aditya returned to campus with hope in his heart and a timeline in his diary.

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Back in Bhairavpur during winter break, he installed a simplified version of KrishiNet in his uncle's farm. For the first time, his father watched crops being irrigated from a smartphone.

"Tu toh sach mein engineer ban gaya," Baba said, his eyes moist.

"Abhi toh bas shuruaat hai," Aditya replied.

They stood together under the open sky, where stars had witnessed years of struggle and now blinked with promise.

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By the end of third year, Aditya had more than grades or certificates.

He had a vision. A team. A product.

And something deeper:

The confidence that he could solve real problems.

That engineering wasn't just about machines.

It was about people.

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As summer approached, he applied for another internship, this time with a UN-supported rural tech program in Africa.

He wrote in his application:

*"I want to learn how global challenges echo in local contexts. I believe tech must travel beyond labs and touch the soil, the sweat, the lives that need it most."*

In May, the acceptance letter came.

Aditya was going to Kenya.

The boy who once couldn't speak in front of twenty classmates was now taking his innovations across continents.

Because dreams had wings.

And he had both.

Roots.

And wings.