somewhere in India
2024
late night chai
3 AM
with friends
new beginnings
I'm Pulkit
a guy who makes apps, drinks too much chai,
overthinks everything, and somehow ended up here
(fair warning: this gets a little personal)
the wins, the mess-ups, the in-between.
grab some chai and scroll ↓
The Beginning
Let me tell you something funny about how all this started...
I never wanted to be a "tech guy." Seriously. I was just a regular college kid who liked watching movies, going on long walks, and spending way too much time thinking about life.
But I had one problem: I was incredibly lazy.
Not the "lying on bed all day" lazy. More like the "why am I doing this boring thing when a computer could do it for me?" lazy.
So when college attendance became a headache, I did what anygenius desperate student would do — I built my first app.
An attendance tracker. Yes, really. It calculated exactly how many classes I could bunk while staying at that magical 75% mark. (Don't judge me. It was essential survival software. 😅)
But here's the thing nobody tells you...
Somewhere between writing that silly attendance app and watching it actually work, something shifted inside me.
That tiny spark of "I made this thing and it works" — it hit different. It wasn't about the code. It was about creating something from nothing. Solving my own problem. Having an idea at 2 AM and seeing it come alive by sunrise.
Laziness turned into curiosity.
And curiosity? That became the most beautiful obsession. The kind where you forget to eat, forget to sleep, and somehow feel more alive than ever.
Looking back, I didn't find coding. Coding found the part of me that was waiting to build things. And I'm grateful for that lazy kid who just didn't want to count his attendance manually.
Beginning of a new story 💻
circa 2025
glimpses from the journey...
my favorite place
2021
2022
did my first trek
2023
chai breaks
always
new chapter
2025
(I promise I have a life outside of screens... sometimes)
The Things I Made
ZenDiary
This one came from a dark place, honestly.
There was a phase when I had a lot going on inside — thoughts I couldn't share with anyone, feelings I couldn't explain. I just needed someone to listen without judging.
So I built that someone. An AI journal that actually gets it. That remembers your patterns. That feels like talking to a patient friend at 2 AM who never gets tired of you.
25,000+ people use it now.
Every time I see that number, it reminds me that I wasn't alone in feeling alone. And that's strangely comforting.
my healing project 🌱
launched 2024
DirectChat
This one started with a mini rage moment:
"WHY do I need to SAVE a number just to send ONE message?!"
Like, I just want to text this delivery guy ONCE. Why is he now permanently in my contacts next to my mom?
Built it in a weekend. Put it on Play Store. Forgot about it.
190,000 downloads later... wait, what?
Zero marketing. Zero budget. Just people finding it and going "FINALLY." Sometimes the smallest frustrations make the biggest apps.
the accidental hit
2023
The Mess-ups
(the part most people hide. I'm not most people.)
Here's the thing — everyone shows their wins. Nobody talks about the 2 AM breakdowns, the embarrassing failures, the times you just... didn't have it together. So let me be that person:
The App Nobody Wanted
Built an entire social platform for college students. Spent 4 months on it. Told everyone about it. Launched it with full confidence.
Total users after 3 months: 23. And 15 of them were friends I personally begged to sign up. The other 8 were probably bots.
Lesson: Building something cool ≠ building something people need. Talk to users BEFORE spending 4 months on something. (I know, obvious. But you gotta learn the hard way sometimes.)
The Friendship I Let Fade
Had a best friend in college. The kind where you finish each other's sentences. Then life happened. I got busy "building stuff." They got busy with their thing.
We don't really talk anymore. Not because of a fight — just... distance. And honestly? That hurts more than a dramatic ending would.
Still learning: Relationships need maintenance. Showing up matters. I'm trying to be better at this. Work in progress.
The Months I Almost Gave Up
Gap year. Everyone getting jobs. Me at home, "building apps." Sounds cool on paper. In reality? Constant self-doubt.
"Am I wasting time?" "Should I just get a regular job?" "What if this never works out?" — These thoughts on repeat, every single night.
The truth: I still don't know if I made the right call. But I know I'd rather try and fail than wonder "what if" forever.
The Overthinking Problem
I analyze everything to death. Every text. Every conversation. Every decision. It's exhausting — for me and probably for everyone around me.
Sometimes I lose good things because I was too busy thinking about them instead of just... living them.
Working on it: Learning to let things be. Not everything needs to be figured out. Some things just need to be felt.
Where I've Been
IIIT Surat
Electronics & Communication Engineering. (yes, not CS — plot twist!)
Got a decent CGPA, but honestly? The numbers don't tell the real story.
What actually mattered: The mentors who believed in me when I was just a confused kid with too many ideas. The friends who became family. The late-night conversations about life, dreams, and everything in between.
College taught me circuits. Life taught me how to connect with people.
Also learned that hostel food can be survived, but chai from the corner stall? That's non-negotiable.
the IIIT days 📚
Surat, Gujarat
The Gap Year(2024)
Everyone got placed. I stayed home.
Wasted time Found myself.Failed Learned.Went crazy Grew up.
This was the year I built ZenDiary. The year I questioned everything. The year I realized that the traditional path isn't the only path.
Scariest year of my life. Also the most transformative.
Would I recommend it? Only if you're ready to face yourself. That's the hardest part.
some days, I thought so too.
but I had to find out for myself. 🤷♂️
IIM Mumbai(now!)
MBA in Operations. Learning to move atoms, not just bits.
After years of building digital products, I realized I wanted to understand how the physical world works. Supply chains. Logistics. The invisible systems that make everything run.
It's a completely different world. I'm the "tech guy" in a room full of business minds. And honestly? I love that.
New city. New challenges. Same chai addiction. The journey continues...
MBA life begins 🎓
Mumbai, 2025
The Real Me
(beyond the apps and achievements)
things I believe in:
- →Done > Perfect. Ship it, learn, improve. The graveyard of "perfect" ideas is infinite.
- →Feeling lost is okay. Sometimes the path only makes sense looking backward.
- →Vulnerability is strength. The people who admit they don't have it all figured out? Those are my people.
things I'm not good at (yet):
- 😅 Saying no to interesting projects
- 🙈 Not overthinking every conversation
- 😬 Keeping in touch with people regularly
- 🤷♂️ Accepting compliments gracefully
- 😴 Going to bed at a reasonable hour
random facts:
- ☕ Chai > Coffee (this is non-negotiable)
- 🌙 I do my best thinking after midnight
- 📚 Currently reading 3 books at once (chaotic, I know)
- 🎧 Lo-fi beats = instant focus mode
- 🚶 Long walks are my therapy
- 🍕 Pineapple on pizza is valid (fight me)
currently... ✨
the bucket list ✨
- ⬜Visit London and take photos at every Harry Potter filming location 🧙♂️
- ⬜Drink red wine in Tuscany with someone special 🍷
- ⬜Watch the Northern Lights in Iceland 🌌
- ⬜Build something that helps a million people 🚀
- ⬜Learn to play guitar (been "starting" for 3 years) 🎸
- ⬜Write a book about this whole journey 📖
- ✅Start something of my own ✓
Chilling spot
always
me time
daily
what excites me right now:
- → The intersection of AI + mental health
- → How supply chains actually work
- → Building in public (scary but liberating)
- → Meeting people with different perspectives
Where I'm Going
Honestly? I don't have a 10-year plan. I barely have a 10-month plan. But I do have some directions I want to walk toward:
🎯 Build things that matter.
Not apps that trend for a week and die. Products people rely on. Tools that quietly make lives better without screaming for attention. ZenDiary was a start. There's more coming.
🌍 Understand the physical world.
I've lived in the digital world for years. Now I want to understand how things actually move. Supply chains. Logistics. Operations.The invisible systems that make everything work. That's why the MBA.
🔥 Stay curious. Stay humble.
The moment I think I've "figured it out" is the moment I start falling behind. I want to always be a student. Always asking dumb questions. Always learning from people smarter than me.
And honestly? I want to prove to myself that taking the unconventional path was worth it. That gap year. The rejections. The self-doubt. I want to look back and say "yeah, it all made sense."
We'll see how it goes. For now, I'm just taking it one day at a time. ☕
Nah, just the beginning.
If you made it this far, we're probably already vibing.
Whether you want to talk about apps, life, travel, philosophy, or just share a virtual chai — I'd love to hear from you.
☕
💻
✈️
📚
🎧
— Pulkit