It all started at a test prep institute in Rajasthan. Test prep institutes, especially those that help prepare for IIT entrances, are often known for their rigorous schedules, giving students very limited opportunities to cultivate friendships for a lifetime. But for Devinder Maheshwari and Kapil Jindal, the coaching institute in Hanumangarh, Rajasthan, is where they met for the first time as teenagers.
While the duo did not make it to the IITs, both managed admission at the prestigious Nirma University in Ahmedabad. Maheshwari joined the electrical engineering stream and Jindal the computer science one. “We were flatmates, and often, when I would come back from college, I would spend time with Kapil who’d be on his laptop,” says Maheshwari. “We had just got internet and we would search the internet to find interesting tech stuff.”
(This story appears in the 29 July, 2022 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)