Milletmarg at IIT Indore

The Unexpected Door to IIT Indore: A Milletmarg Founder’s Journey

Sometimes life takes you to places you never planned to reach. And sometimes, the way you get there makes the experience even more special.

Today was one of those days for me.

I had the opportunity to present Milletmarg and our millet-based products at IIT Indore. On the surface, it may sound like a simple exhibition, stall or product-presentation opportunity.

But for me, it carried a much deeper meaning.

What IIT Indore Means to Me

IIT is one of those names that carries a certain weight in India.

For a JEE aspirant, getting into an IIT can represent years of preparation, countless hours of study, competition, pressure, sacrifice and a dream that is worked towards day after day.

I am not an IITian.

I didn’t enter IIT through JEE, academics or the conventional path that so

many students work incredibly hard to achieve.

And I don’t want to pretend otherwise.

My own journey has taken a very different route.

I have worked in disaster management, spent time in the social work and development sector, and eventually found myself becoming an entrepreneur and building Milletmarg.

If someone had told me years ago that one day I would be standing inside an IIT campus presenting products that I had helped create, I probably would not have imagined it.

But life has its own ways of opening doors.

And today, entrepreneurship became the door through which I entered IIT Indore.

A Small Opportunity That Didn’t Feel Small

Perhaps, in the larger scheme of things, entering an IIT campus through an exhibition or a stall isn’t a huge achievement.

But I don’t think opportunities should always be measured by how impressive they look from the outside.

Sometimes their value comes from what that place means to you.

For me, being at IIT Indore was an opportunity I genuinely respected.

I could feel the atmosphere of a place that so many young people have dreamed of reaching.

And then there was another thing that surprised me.

The students.

I had the opportunity to be around IIT students and observe them going about their day.

Knowing how much effort it takes to reach an institution like IIT, I perhaps expected to see a certain sense of pride or attitude.

Instead, what I noticed was simplicity.

They seemed focused on their own goals, their own ambitions and their own work.

Everyone appeared to be quietly building something for themselves.

That really touched me.

It reminded me that behind the reputation of a premier institution are simply young people trying to build their futures, one day at a time.

And perhaps that is something every entrepreneur can relate to.

We all have our own version of a difficult entrance examination.

Our own preparation.

Our own uncertainty.

Our own goals.

And our own journey.

When Milletmarg Entered IIT

For me, the most beautiful part of the day was seeing Milletmarg products inside IIT Indore.

This little brand that we are building in Indore has travelled throug

h kitchens, experiments, conversations, customer feedback, mistakes, learning and countless small decisions.

And today, it carried the Milletmarg name into IIT.

The same feeling comes when our products reach IIM Indore or Hospitals where Healthy food is in need.

These may look like small milestones when compared with the much bigger things that established companies achieve.

But when you are building something from the ground up, these moments matter.

They tell you that your work is travelling.

They remind you that something you created can find its way into places you once only knew by reputation.

And they give you another reason to keep going.

An Unexpected Meeting

Today also gave me the opportunity to meet Prof. Kanhaiya Tripathi.

I had never met him before.

He has served as an Officer on Special Duty at the Office of the President of India and is currently associated with the National Human Rights Commission as a Special Monitor.

But what stayed with me was not his designation.

It was his humility.

He was warm, approachable and remarkably grounded.

Sometimes we look at someone’s professional journey and imagine

that their achievements must somehow make them distant from ordinary conversations.

But today’s interaction reminded me that achievement and humility can comfortably exist together.

I admire people like that.

People do inspire me.

I notice their journeys, their work and the way they carry themselves.

Sometimes I tell them.

Sometimes I don’t.

Sometimes I just quietly carry that inspiration with me.

Secretly. He he.

A Thank You I Will Always Remember

There is one person I especially want to thank for making this experience possible.

Dr. Harsha Upadhyay.

Thank you for reaching out to us, for thinking of Milletmarg and for giving us this invaluable and incredible opportunity to be at IIT Indore.

These opportunities may be a single day on the calendar, but their memory can stay much longer.

I genuinely believe that whenever I remember IIT Indore in the future, this experience will be one of the things that comes to mind.

And for that, I will always be grateful.

I Still Have So Much to Learn

If there is one thing I came away with today, it is the realisation that I still have a lot to learn.

About entrepreneurship.

About building a brand.

About people.

About business.

About myself.

And I am actually looking forward to it.

I don’t want my career to become a race where I am constantly chasing the next milestone and forgetting to enjoy the road.

I want to build, learn and grow, but I also want to experience the journey.

I want to meet interesting people.

I want to enter places I never expected to enter.

I want to learn from people whose journeys are completely different from mine.

I want to make mistakes, discover new things and hopefully collect many more unique and beautiful experiences along the way.

Because perhaps a meaningful career is not only about where we eventually arrive.

It is also about the people we meet, the places we unexpectedly reach, and the moments we allow ourselves to appreciate along the way.

Today, I got to experience one of those moments.

I didn’t enter IIT Indore as a student.

I entered as an entrepreneur, carrying products from a brand I am building.

And honestly, that felt pretty special.

Today, Milletmarg reached IIT Indore.

And in its own small way,

so did I.

Here’s to more learning, more building, more unexpected opportunities, and many more beautiful experiences ahead.