Vision Beyond the Screen

Chapter 14: Vision Beyond the Screen

The rains had passed, leaving behind a wet shimmer across the rooftops of Lucknow. In the freshly painted boardroom of Nirmaan Technologies' second office near Alambagh, the windows were open, letting in the scent of wet earth and the distant buzz of a cycle rickshaw bell. Inside, the atmosphere was charged with quiet urgency.

Ajay stood at the head of a long teakwood table, chalk in hand. The whiteboard behind him was cluttered with notes and arrows, sketches of circuit diagrams, revenue charts, even stick-figure drawings of remote controls and antenna towers.

But today, he wasn't here to teach. He was here to build.

"I'm serious," Ajay said, his voice low but firm. "We've reached the ceiling of what a small team can do. It's time we build this properly."

He turned back to the whiteboard and began writing, each word deliberate:

Licensing. Production. Protection. Marketing. Public Outreach. Internal Finance. Training.

"These aren't just buzzwords," he said. "They're the cracks in our foundation. Government permits for sales in Delhi took four weeks. Customs held our monitor shipment from Japan for two months. And now, we're being asked for patents on our Hindi OS. We don't even have a legal officer."

Vikram, now his co-director, leaned forward. "We need someone who understands tech law, or we'll be sitting ducks when international companies take notice."

Ajay underlined "Legal / Protection Cell."

"This team will be in charge of copyright filings, licensing deals, and securing our designs. If we're building for India, we must also protect it."

He didn't stop there.

"Production bottlenecks are killing our momentum," said Vikram. "We need our own line—or partnerships with smaller local factories to meet demand."

Ajay nodded. "We form a Production and Assembly Division. Not just in Lucknow. Let's branch out to places like Pune, Coimbatore, and Guwahati. We'll cut shipping time and give local jobs."

Anil Kapoor, the linguistic genius behind BhashaCODE, added, "Our training program needs structure. Interns are burning out. Let's build an internal Training and Capacity Cell."

Ajay agreed. "Yes. We're not just making tech. We're making technologists."

Marketing and Sales: Growing a Network

By mid-1982, India was buzzing with imported technologies—especially colour televisions from Sony, Panasonic, and RCA. A single imported TV cost between ₹12,000 to ₹18,000, far beyond the reach of an average Indian household.

Ajay saw the gap—and the opportunity.

Nirmaan's colour TV, with a Hindi interface and Indian circuitry, was priced at just ₹4,999. The quality? Astonishing. Their engineers had developed a colour stabilizing unit they nicknamed the "DeepTone Pixel Layer." It matched and, in some cases, exceeded the Japanese models.

In one of the most heated strategy meetings, Vikram had pounded the table.

"We can beat them. Not just on price—but on pride."

And so began their marketing blitz:

In Chennai, they set up a demo booth on Mount Road, showcasing live cricket commentary in Hindi.

In Mumbai, they aired Sholay scenes on their TV at Opera House. Crowds gathered, stunned by the vivid colour depth.

In Kolkata, College Street hosted a campus debate: "Technology in the Mother Tongue"—followed by a live Nirmaan demo.

In Delhi, a Doordarshan anchor recorded a special segment, aired live in a showroom through Nirmaan's colour TV.

Everywhere, people were shocked.

"Arey bhai, yeh imported nahi hai?"

"Hindi mein bhi channel dikhata hai?"

"Agar yeh asli India ka maal hai… toh le lenge hum!"

From that wave of emotion, a slogan was born:

"Pehla rangin TV, Bharat ke liye, Bharat se."

(The first colour TV, for India, from India.)

Closing Scene: The Meeting Table

The meeting room had changed. It was fuller now—new interns, new heads of departments, a retired army logistics officer, and even a legal advisor from Delhi. They weren't just a start-up anymore. They were an ecosystem.

Ajay walked to the whiteboard once more and drew a large circle.

In the middle, he wrote:

VISION

Around it, he added branches:

Innovation: "We solve Indian problems with Indian insight."

Language: "Hindi today. Bengali, Tamil, Kannada tomorrow."

Access: "If a farmer's son in Bihar can't buy a TV, we've failed."

Training: "Our interns will be CTOs one day."

Protection: "Our OS and hardware must be registered, here and abroad."

Service: "If we sell in Shimla, we serve in Shimla."

Trust: "No bribes. No inflated costs. Public trust is our only capital."

He paused and added one final word:

Power.

The room fell silent.

"If we want India to rise in tech, we need influence—not just in policy, but in hearts and homes."

Vikram added, "Policymakers should consult us. Newspapers should quote us."

Anil laughed. "And kids should dream of working here."

Ajay's eyes moved to the window. Outside, Bharat was playing with cardboard tubes, pretending to be a robot. "Suru!" he shouted. "Ruko!"

Ajay smiled. "This isn't just a company. It's a responsibility."

New Department: From Problem to Possibility

Ajay stepped forward and drew one last box on the chalkboard.

R&D: Real Bharat Needs Division

He turned to the team.

"We've built based on what we know—TVs, computers, operating systems. But what about the things we haven't seen yet? The needs that haven't been written down?"

Anil asked, "You mean… go looking for problems first?"

"Exactly," Ajay said. "Necessity is the mother of invention. This team won't build immediately. They'll go into the field—survey regions, talk to farmers, street vendors, schoolteachers—and return with insights."

Engineer Kavya raised her hand. "We should identify all the imported items we still rely on—radios, transistors, duplicators. Let's target them."

Ajay nodded. "Yes. We need alternatives. We'll make a list:"

Why are copying machines still imported?

Why do medical monitors come from Japan?

Can we make small solar kits for villages?

Anil added, "We can even set up a suggestion box in every district. Let India tell us what it needs."

Vikram smiled. "We might learn more from a chaiwala than a consultant."

Ajay turned to the board and slowly wrote:

Samasya Sankalan Vibhag

(Problem Collection Division)

Anil translated, smiling:

"Where India's struggles become our software."

There was a round of soft laughter—but everyone could feel it. The next chapter had already begun.

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