Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Rajeev couldn't go back to the panchayat to register the company the same day, as by the time he got home, the sun had already set and the streets were cloaked in darkness. He decided to leave it for the next morning. And so, the very next day, he made the trip back, quietly, without breathing a word of it to his wife. After all, the last thing he wanted was another round of scolding and lectures about wasting time and chasing foolish ideas.

The process of registering a company was unexpectedly easier than he anticipated; it only needed his identification card, information about the kind of company he would be establishing, whether he had any partners, and the investment he was putting in the company.

He didn't know what to write for the investment he was putting in, but he saw in the checkboxes that there was an option, technical investment, so he simply chose that. Finally, for the name of the company, he actually did not think all that much. He used his surname, Singhaniya, mentioned what his company wanted to specialise in, and added "moving pictures" right next to it, because that was what his company was created for: to make pictures that move.

He was extremely happy with his move, so after obtaining the trademarks and permits, he went directly to the nearest bank in order to claim the interest-free loan the newspaper had promised.

Standing in front of the Raya Royal Bank, the Emperor's own bank, Rajeev hesitated to step forward, because like most Bharatiyas, he had never taken a loan before. Although he and his father were not on good terms, the teachings of Tejashwi Singhania were firmly etched in his mind.

'There is no going back now, especially not after registering a company and placing an order with Purushottam.' This thought gave him some courage, so he went into the building, enquired around, and climbed to the second floor, which was responsible for providing loans, for the first time in his life.

The employees of the bank were quite busy handling other clients, so he had to wait for some time for his turn. But Rajeev was not disappointed, as he felt this was actually a good thing, because it gave him some time to come to terms with his decision.

As the booth got empty, he knew it was his time, so he decisively went forward and immediately declared that he wanted a loan of over 4000 Varaha.

He didn't know why, but in his heart, he imagined scenarios where the employee would look at him disdainfully and tell him to get out. Obviously, that didn't happen. The employee simply took the credentials he had been given, went through a few ledgers, and nodded.

"It can be given, sir. If you take the loan in the name of your company, then you can avail the no-interest loan for two years. But, sir, you have not provided any proof of income. Without this, we are not able to provide you with a loan."

This came as a huge surprise to Rajeev. He didn't know that he had to provide some sort of proof to get a loan. But where would he get it? He had long left his job and was currently unemployed. As for proof of income, suddenly, an idea dawned in his mind.

"Does income from agriculture count?"

The lady was not surprised; she had seen many people who had mortgaged their earnings from the land they had in order to get a loan. "Of course, it is possible, sir, but please provide us with the land deed for verification, and we will send an employee to check out your land so as to make sure that it is currently active and is being farmed."

"Or, you could mortgage part of the land, of course, the process for this is much quicker."

Rajeev was scared out of his wits when the lady mentioned mortgaging the land itself. If he really did that, could he even stay alive? He couldn't even imagine his wife's face after she found out what he had done. But he felt like it was feasible to mortgage the earnings he got from the farm, so he enquired more about it, like what happens if he is not able to fulfil his contractual obligations, or does he need to pay money every month to clear out the debt.

Thankfully, the news was not all bad, as he didn't have to pay anything to the bank until the end of the second year. And if he failed to pay the money after the deadline ended, he would get three warnings, and these warnings were spread over a span of 6 months, and only when he couldn't pay the money back even after all three warnings would the bank start forcefully collecting the money that belonged to them from his farm.

He was scared to know that in the worst-case scenario, his land might end up getting taken by the bank, but if he really hadn't succeeded even after two years, then he simply deserves it.

'2 years, it's more than enough,' he slapped himself in the face mentally to cheer himself up and left to get the necessary documents.

After he got home, he didn't act immediately because he still didn't want his wife to know what he was doing. He waited until she went to spend some time with the neighbouring women, then acted quickly, retrieved the land deed from the security lock in his room, and the next day went back to the bank to finish the formalities and apply for the loan.

When he came back, he had to make sure that his wife wasn't home and quickly put back the land documents in their place and closed the cupboard as if they had never moved in the first place.

He was pretty excited. In just a few days, someone from the bank would be coming to inspect the farm. That part didn't worry him too much, after all, his wife almost never visited the farm. She had no reason to, and he had always handled everything there on his own. So, as far as he was concerned, there was no way she would find out what he had done, at least not yet.

To his relief, everything went according to plan, and by the end of the week, he was given a bank passbook with the amount of 4000 Varaha in it.

He went straight to Purushottam to see if he had found the parts.

He was pleasantly surprised when he actually did.

"You're lucky, brother, an accident involving a tricycle occurred in the next town, the whole tricycle was scrapped, but the crank system was just fine. The workshop that took over the processing of the scrapped tricycle was a place where my buddy worked, so after talking with him, I was able to get both the crank system and the gear system for a cheap price."

"Is it its price in weight?" Rajeev asked expectantly.

"Unfortunately, no," he was immediately disappointed, but he continued to listen, "since there was nothing actually wrong with the crank and the gear system, I couldn't get it for the price of its weight in iron. But since it was a part from a crashed tricycle, the price was very cheap, since not a lot of people wanted to reuse such a part with a bad omen."

Rajeev nodded in understanding. He would be worried about using such a part in his bicycle if he had one as well, but since he was not going to ride his motion machine, he had no trouble using it.

"So how much does it cost?"

"4000, brother."

It was a little steep, but still acceptable, so he paid the 75% deposit and left after telling Purushottam exactly what he wanted.

After he went home, he didn't have anything important to do, so he started to research where he could sell his machine. He was confident that it would work; the machine he had come up with should act exactly like his thumb. Even though he was not a genius when it came to physics or mechanics, he was not a dumb idiot either; he could grasp the basic principles.

So after a few days of asking around, he found a few places that would be willing to purchase his machine, which he called the Moving Picture Machine.

The places were basically drama theatres, circus performances, or large bookstores.

Finally, by the end of the week, the machine was prepared; it looked like a cube on a three-legged platform with a cycle pedal hanging by the side. It looked odd, but it worked, and that's all that mattered.

When he came to see the finished machine, he also brought his slides, so he did not hesitate anymore and quickly filled the slides into their slots and immediately started to operate.

'Trrrr!'

It worked, it really worked, with the sound of a bicycle spinning at a rapid rate, the picture actually moved, playing the full movie he had in his dream.

He was so happy, his heart almost leaping out of his chest, but then he noticed a problem. It was too dark. The picture wasn't properly visible. His heart dropped. He was standing under the afternoon sun, and even then, with all that light, the image was still dim. What would happen if this machine were placed under a roof?

Would people even be able to see anything?

The thought hit him like a punch to the gut. He stepped aside, his excitement draining into panic, and took a deep breath to steady himself. He needed to think, to recollect his thoughts, to find some way to fix this before everything collapsed.

What he didn't notice was Purushottam, who had been silently curious about how the finished product would look. Drawn by that curiosity, he stepped forward, placed his hands on the pedal, and began to turn it. As the reel spun, the machine hummed to life, and before his eyes, the picture inside began to move.

Purushottam froze, his eyes widening, his throat suddenly dry as if all the air had left the room.

'This is....' He was shocked; this was the first time he had seen anything like it.

Of course, he noticed the problem with it, but he felt like the problem was not too big; its solution was quite easy.

So when he told Rajeev that a kerosene lamp could be added internally, since there was still some space in the chamber, Rajeev let out a sigh and asked how much it would cost.

"At least 2000 Varaha."

"Since the lamp would be lit most of the time, normal lamps cannot do; it has to be either those glass lamps used in laboratories or copper lamps."

Rajeev didn't have that sort of money. Even for the build of the machine, he paid after taking a loan.

Purushottam could feel that this customer was quite stretched for money, and suddenly, he got an idea.

"Brother, did you register a company?"

Rajeev was taken aback, "I did, why do you ask?"

"Currently, this thing requires a lamp modification to be done; for that, the pedal has to be removed, a handle has to be added, some grease has to be added to the bearings, and finally, some dampening has to be provided internally so that it does not make such a loud sound."

"What if I did all of this for you, not for money, but in exchange for a certain stake in the company?"

Rajeev pondered for a while. The idea did not cause any aversion in him. Even though he was taught from childhood to never give up stake in something he owns, maybe he was desperate enough to put aside such thoughts.

"I'm ok with it, but how is the stake calculated?"

Purushottam stroked his chin and came up with a solution.

"Currently, you have invested 4000 Varaha in the machine alone, and your technology investment, let us consider that, let's say 5000 Varaha. That brings your investment to over 9000. The modifications and repairs I promised to do should be worth over 3000. So that will come to about 25%."

"What do you think, brother?"

Rajeev was silent for a long time until he eventually nodded, "It's fair, but are you sure about the investment? Will your boss agree?"

"Don't worry about him, brother. This is my personal investment. I still had some money saved up, I'm using that."

Rajeev's eyebrows immediately raised; he looked at Purushottam with admiration. ' So this is what actual entrepreneurs looked like, ' he thought to himself.

In order to finalise their deal, a contract was drawn up at a lawyer's office, and both parties signed after agreeing to the terms.

"By the way, brother, you have applied for a patent, haven't you? If not, quickly apply for one; we don't want our technology to be stolen."

Rajeev shook his head, "I have not, but I did post the draft design concept to myself as soon as I got the idea. Until the patent is registered, that should be enough to prove that I had come up with the idea."

Purushottam thoughtfully nodded, "Then see if you can register the patent as quickly as possible, brother, and according to the contract, register the patent in the name of the company."

"Naturally."

This time, he was not reluctant to spend the money; he used the money that was left and quickly used it to apply for the patent in the name of the company. Of course, he would not want to cheat Purushottam.

In such a way, several days passed, and ultimately, the modified moving picture machine was finally completed.