The successful activation of the first "Bharat-Net" terminal in that Tamil Nadu village was not an endpoint; it was a detonation. The ripple effect spread through the Indian economy and polity with astonishing speed, transforming the Patel Group from a corporate entity into a fundamental piece of national infrastructure.
The most immediate effect was on governance. As more terminals came online in post offices and government offices, the sclerotic, bribe-dependent bureaucracy began to be bypassed. Land records were digitized, birth and death certificates were issued swiftly, and welfare payments started flowing directly to bank accounts with unprecedented transparency. The "Digital Dharma" was actively dismantling the very corruption that Harsh's "Shield" had been built to defend against.
This efficiency created a new, powerful political constituency for the Patel Group: the common citizen. For the first time, millions of Indians felt the positive, tangible impact of a government service delivered without hassle. The politicians who had backed the "India Digital" project saw their popularity soar. Harsh Patel's name, once known in business circles, became synonymous with progress in the public mind.
The second ripple was economic. The sheer scale of "Project BharatNet" created a massive domestic industry for fiber-optic cable, networking hardware, and server farms. Smaller companies, which had once seen the Patel Group as a Goliath to be feared, now became its suppliers and partners. The ecosystem Harsh had envisioned was becoming a reality, creating jobs and fostering technological spin-offs far beyond his own companies.
The third ripple was the most personally significant for Harsh. It came in the form of a quiet, unmarked envelope delivered to his office by a government courier. Inside was a single sheet of paper. It was a brief, handwritten note from the Prime Minister.
"Mr. Patel,
The reports from the districts are more encouraging than I dared hope. You have delivered. India remembers its builders.
- PM"
It was not a contract or a decree. It was a simple, powerful acknowledgment from the most powerful office in the land. It meant more to Harsh than any financial statement. He had the nation's trust.
This trust, however, attracted a new level of scrutiny. International media, which had largely ignored his domestic diversification, now descended upon the "India Digital" story. He was profiled in Time magazine as "The Man Wiring India." The "Patel Anomaly" was revisited, but now framed as a prelude to this grand, national project. His early bets on NetScape and Yahoo! were seen not as lucky gambles, but as the foundational research for a digital visionary.
With this global spotlight came a new kind of pressure. The World Bank and the IMF, seeing the success, offered massive loans to accelerate "BharatNet." Foreign governments invited him to advise on their own digital initiatives. Harsh politely declined most of the loans and all of the advisory roles. His focus was absolute. The Digital Dharma was an Indian project, built with Indian capital and Indian resolve.
One evening, he stood on the site of a new data center being built on the outskirts of Bangalore, the heart of "BharatNet." It was a vast, concrete shell that would soon house the servers for a nation. The scale was humbling.
Rakesh stood beside him. "The Aethelred Trust is now valued at one hundred and twenty million dollars. The Yahoo! IPO was another massive success. The capital is there, if the project needs it."
Harsh shook his head, his gaze fixed on the construction. "We won't need it. The profits from Patel Group, the government contracts... they are enough. The Trust's purpose is different now."
"And what is its purpose now, Harsh Ji?" Rakesh asked, genuinely curious.
Harsh finally turned to him, a faint smile on his face. "Insurance," he said simply. "And for the next thing. Once India is connected, it will need something to say. Something to build. Something to sell. The Trust will help us find what that is."
The ripple had become a wave, and Harsh was now riding its crest, his gaze fixed not on the water behind him, but on the uncharted shore ahead. The sovereign had become a nation-builder, and his ambition had expanded to match the scale of the country he was helping to reshape.