The name on the wooden board outside the modest repair shop now read:
Celestial Technologies
Quiet Solutions. Solid Systems.
It stood just off a busy side street in West Mambalam, surrounded by tea stalls, photocopy shops, and narrow alleys echoing with school bells and cycle bells.
By morning and afternoon, two workers — Ravi and Mahesh — manned the counters, fixed devices, handled customers, and kept the register running.
But the real driving force behind Celestial Technologies walked in every day at 3:30 PM sharp, wearing a faded college shirt and holding a notebook full of plans.
His name was Karthik.
College student by day. System builder by evening.
Daytime Hustle, After-Class Vision
Ravi, a steady-handed mechanical diploma graduate, handled audio systems, fan motors, and wiring problems.
Mahesh, a curious and energetic high school dropout with fast learning skills, took care of minor repairs, packaging, and customer service.
They were full-time staff — trained and salaried by Karthik himself using the business's early profits.
The shop functioned like clockwork from 10:00 AM to 8:30 PM.
But from 3:30 PM onward, Karthik brought a different energy:
He solved complex problems
Audited books
Reordered stock
Designed new service flyers
And always, always, watched the bigger picture
The Unexpected Visitor
One evening, barely five minutes after Karthik walked in from college, wiping sweat off his forehead, a man stumbled into the shop carrying a large, boxy CPU.
"My computer crashed! I need the files immediately!" he said breathlessly.
Mahesh helped him lower the unit onto the table. Ravi poured water.
Karthik approached.
"This is Celestial Technologies," he said calmly. "We'll take a look."
"I've been to three shops," the man snapped. "They all said, 'Come tomorrow.' I need my research files tonight."
Karthik crouched beside the machine. It was an old IBM PC with a government label.
"What's the file type?"
"Simulation data. Reports. Names starting with HydroSim_."
The man extended a hand.
"I'm Dr. R. Sundaram — Chief Scientist, Tamil Nadu Science Forum. These files are due tomorrow morning."
The Fix Without Fuss
Karthik and Ravi checked the system.
The issue wasn't hardware — just a corrupted boot loader and broken startup path. Using a recovery floppy and a backup boot sequence, Karthik accessed the internal file system directly.
He didn't touch the main software. He didn't write advanced code.
Just cleaned up the structure, navigated the old directory, and extracted the essential folders into labeled floppy disks.
In 40 minutes, Dr. Sundaram had his files.
Reputation Starts Quietly
"Other shops said recovery was impossible," Dr. Sundaram murmured.
"They didn't have time," Karthik replied, wiping his hands.
"You're still a student?"
"First-year economics. Anna University."
Dr. Sundaram studied him, then placed his card on the table.
"If you ever expand beyond repairs, let me know. This city needs more people who listen before they fix."
Karthik smiled. "I'm already expanding, sir. One trust at a time."
Celestial Technologies Grows
By the weekend:
More devices arrived than usual
Word had spread about the "college-run shop" that helped a top scientist
A school teacher from Mylapore requested help for his classroom cassette system
A temple administrator asked for intercom maintenance
Every job added to the ledger.
Every fix added to his credibility.
Notebook Entry
"Systems don't wait for degrees.
I may enter after college hours.
But what do I build here?
Will one day run even while I sleep.
Celestial Technologies is no longer just a name.
It's a foundation — with people, trust, and purpose."