Kavya Karnatac

One person cannot change the system, they said.

But, here is a man who changed this narrative with his YouTube channel and is now bringing a revolution in Indian education.

> Alakh Pandey (PhysicsWallah) born in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh where his father worked as a clerk and his mother was a teacher.

> Despite financial constraints, he excelled academically but couldn't clear the IIT entrance exam. He went on to pursue Mechanical Engineering at Harcourt Butler Technical University (HBTU), Kanpur, but eventually dropped out.

> He began teaching at a local coaching center to make a living but the pay was insufficient. And so he started tutoring students privately.

> He noticed that many students, especially those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, lacked access to quality education and tutoring. So he started his YouTube channel, Physics Wallah, in 2016.

> Initially he just had limited resources like a whiteboard and his phone to make videos. For the first few months, the viewership was modest.

> There was little to no growth for six months. But at that point, his video on Electrostatics went viral because of the creativity.

> He also received his fast paycheck from YouTube of about 
₹8000.

> This motivated him to continue making videos. And within the next 3 months, he reached 100,000 subscribers.

> But seeing that he made education available for free through his YouTube Channel, a well-funded ed-tech rival offered him INR 75 crore for a 10% stake. He declined the offer.

> But the company did not take this rejection well. To make conditions worse for him they poached his star teachers.

> He replied to the same by saying: There are thousands of Alakh Pandey, how many can you stop?

> By 2021 in five years the channel had over 6 million subscribers.

> It was then he met Prateek Maheshwari, co-founder at PhysicsWallah now.

 > They both agreed to a common goal of providing quality education at a low price.

> By 2020, Alakh expanded his team & started teaching courses for CAT, CLAT, NEET, JEE and UPSC and launched an app for Physics Wallah too.

> Today, Physics Wallah operates 13 YouTube channels with 18M+ subscribers. It operates in multiple cities and states across India, with a presence in over 50 cities and has over 6M+ students.

> The price for his paid courses is just about 1/10 of his rivals starting from 4000 only.

> He was one of the first few to speak for the rights of 2 Million+ students who appeared for NEET this year.

> This led to NTA bending down to accept the grace marks scams and he released a statement saying, “Jab tak jawab nahi milega, chup nahi baithenge.”

 > He believes that affordability of courses are important. And this is perhaps why when every EdTech in our country is on the verge of closing down, PhysicsWallah is a ₹8000 crore company. 
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Hi, I am Kavya Karnatac and I love talking about people who work for a cause. Follow me for more such beautiful stories.

“Women are not courageous”- they say.
But seeing women succeed is the biggest inspiration!

My teammate and I have been smiling all day reading the courageous story of Nancy Tyagi. 
The small-town girl who began with stitching her dolls’ clothes and is now making India proud.

Imagine the number of women her story will inspire:

Nancy was born in a small town of Uttar Pradesh- Bhagpat. In a poor family- her father worked as a cab driver and her mother was a daily wage worker.

Like many in India, Nancy also had the dream of pursuing UPSC. So she, along with her mother and younger brother, came to Delhi. Most of her savings were paid as fees to the coaching institute. But life took a drastic turn when lockdown happened.

Her coaching stopped. But her mother had to continue working as a labourer to pay rent.
Seeing her returning home, covered in dust & dirt, Nancy was quite disheartened. And that’s when she decided to take things into her on hands.

It was in 2022 when she bought a camera and started making fashion content on Instagram. Her only aim was to free her mother from the labour job. But the start of her creator journey was not at all easy.

She was heavily trolled for her accent- “doraemon jaise awaaz hai teri” said people.
For a year, her videos did not get many views or likes. Yet, she did not give up.

It was then that she took the leap of faith. Having faith in her creativity, she started a series called “100 days of Outfit from Scratch”. She used her mother’s sewing machine to stitch outfits. She started sourcing cloth materials from local markets. And used her brother’s help to document the entire stitching process. This series, this small leap of faith, changed everything for her.

Suddenly, the hate turned into compliments- “isse kehte hain alsi kalaa”
She received recognition from fellow fashion influencers, was approached by biggest lifestyle brands, was nominated for the first-ever National Creators Award, and got to represent India in one of the biggest film festivals in Cannes.

At Cannes, she didnt just wear the outfits made by others. She beautifully flaunted her self-made outfits! Which she sewed in just a month. From being trolled to breaking into top Google India Trends on the same day as the heated RCB and CSK match she paved her way to success.

“Mera toh ye sapna bhi nahi tha”- she said in her mothertongue.
The confidence that she had in herself paid off. She probably became the first successful creator to design her own clothes. An inspiration to many! I am sure many would follow her footprints!

I love writing about the journeys of creators. 
Whose journey inspires you the most?  Let me know in the comments below.