I was born in Kanpur, in a small Hindi-medium world, where English was something only “big people” spoke. Like many non-English medium students, English always felt distant and intimidating. I studied only till the 6th standard in Kanpur, and for most of my childhood, English felt far away.

My father was already working in Mumbai as a journalist for an Urdu newspaper, Urdu Times. He was an honest journalist — the kind who never took money from politicians, builders, or anyone with power. He lived on his simple salary, and he lived with dignity.

When our financial situation became tight, my mother and I shifted to Mumbai to join him. We settled in Mumbra, a place that has shaped my heart and identity even today.

Life wasn’t easy. When the need arose, I worked.

From Class 9 to Class 12, I worked as a waiter in wedding catering. Not fancy parties — real Mumbai weddings in places like Roha, Pen, Nagothane, Kalyan, Thane, and many small towns around.

Heavy utensils. Long nights. Big crowds.

I wasn’t ashamed — I was learning life.

Those weddings taught me humility, confidence, and how to speak to all kinds of people.

Years later, when I began writing about communication and confidence, I realised something important:

that was my first communication training — long before English ever entered my life.

And perhaps that is why, today as an author writing for students from non-English medium backgrounds, I understand their hesitation, their silence, and their desire to speak with confidence.

I completed my 10th standard in Hindi medium from B.S. Jondhale Vidyamandir, Mumbra.

People often say students from non-English medium backgrounds cannot speak English confidently.

I lived with that label.

I carried that fear.

After 10th, I took Commerce… and quickly realised:

Accounts is not for me.

So I shifted to Arts for graduation — Political Science and Economics.

Later, I went on to complete my Master’s in English Literature from Joshi Bedekar College, Thane.

From a Hindi-medium boy in Kanpur

to an English Literature postgraduate —

this journey eventually became the backbone of the Confluent Mission 

Like many students from non-English medium backgrounds, I joined English classes across Mumbai, searching for fluency and confidence.

I attended four or five of them… and then I walked into the classroom of Kanaz ma’am.

She changed everything.

I joined as a student.

Within days, she saw something in me — something I did not yet see in myself.

She offered me the role of assistant teacher.

And that’s how I accidentally became a teacher.

Not by planning.

By possibility.

From there, I taught in a well-known English-speaking institute in Mumbai, and later worked under the U.S. Embassy’s Access Program, teaching tribal students in Atgaon. Those children taught me more about courage, curiosity, and humanity than any university ever could.

But through all these years, one truth kept repeating itself:

Students understood English…

but they still couldn’t speak.

That question stayed with me for years — and eventually became the starting point of my work as an author writing about confidence, fluency, and the real struggles of students from non-English medium backgrounds.