Tuesday afternoon, I finish my lunch sharp at 1.48 PM as Bhuwan is scheduled to call at 2 o’clock. Bhuwan calls two minutes late and somehow I miss it. I check my phone anticipating the delay only to find his miss call. I call him back and he is having lunch. How unprofessional, I eat my instant reaction.
He calls back in not more than five minutes and I say, ‘not that bad’, taking his call.
Bhuwan Arora it is. An IIT Delhi Alumni, who left two big offers to create ‘Oditty’. A platform that promises to be ‘Facebook of Intellectual Exploration’. A platform where one can actually explore him/herself, where one can seek answers and make a strong opinion. He is Techie by a degree and the study he has completed but deep down, Bhuwan is a man of conscience and human qualities. Otherwise, who leaves Housing.com to jump into ocean of books and knowledge? Bhuwan does and that’s why he is shaping Oditty, which literally means discovery! Bhuwan is shaping discovery and in his words, ‘this sounds stupid but it would be one Smarter Human Being.’
After finishing his B.Tech in textile technology and minor in computer science from IIT Delhi in year 2012, Bhuwan joined a start-up Cilory. He gets complete freedom to work and explore. But, Bhuwan was struggling to connect with the means and processes involved in problem-solving phenomenon. Three months later, Bhuwan resigns only to join Housing.com, which has been in news with Rahul Yadav episode recently. Bhuwan gets good package and everything which he demands for but Housing.com couldn’t provide him satisfaction.
‘I couldn’t relate with the work. They gave complete freedom but I couldn’t relate with the means’, says Bhuwan with utmost honesty.
He doesn’t play with words, he doesn’t talk big shots, he does dream big but he knows the path. He is willing to climb stairs one by one.
About the idea of Oditty, Bhuwan explains, ‘Book is not a physical entity. It is form of knowledge. Video, books or news…all of these are forms of knowledge. That’s where I find solutions to human problems. What do we want when stuck in a problem? Answers! And I wanted to created such a place. Oditty is just that with many beautiful features, authors, social rooms and magazines.’
Bhuwan calls it a process of creating a social network for bibliophiles, moreover for the Curious Minds. He says, ‘We aim to bridge the gap between real and virtual world derived from books, literature, news, videos etc which we accomplish through an all-inclusive strategy comprising of Rooms.’
Oditty also provides all literature enthusiasts and book worms a personal space of their own where they can explore a particular topic in time, in detail through Books, News, and Videos. Facebook does for Social Exploration. Pinterest does for Visual Exploration. Just like that, Oditty does it for Intellectual Exploration and that what Bhuwan believes in and stands for.
It was not that easy for Bhuwan to get things done. Prepared though but he was ‘one man army’. With this idea and complete project with data base of 17 Lac books in his laptop, he visited a number of venture capitalists. He kept giving presentations, visiting start-up events feeling like an ‘alien’ and telling people about Oditty. Bhuwan’s fund-hunt ended with Niraj. Niraj Singh, founder of outbox ventures. Bhuwan gave his presentation and in less than 20 minutes, deal got finalized. Bhuwan had money for Oditty. Neeraj showed complete faith in Oditty and the working-wheel got a kick start.
Bhuwan hired a team. Got a co-founder in Ashesh Mishra and launched Oditty on April 24th, 2015. Ashesh, also from IIT-Delhi, worked with Bhuwan 24×7. Now, Bhuwan has 10 smart chaps working under his cool yet philosophical leadership. Digging into Google, internet and trying to create their own Google for intellects. A Google which can solve problems and help people make a strong view or opinion.
‘Joy is in the journey, not destination. This is what we stand by. This amazing journey of ours began with an idea that was initiated on April 24th 2015 and we haven’t looked back ever since. A small 1BHK in Khirki Extension in Malviya Nagar, New Delhi has witnessed us from inception and conveys our story. It has seen us work from scratch to the brand Oditty has today.’ concludes Bhuwan.
So, exploit Oditty for free and although there are many people out there, these people are growing and getting better every day!
Highlighters
Key Factor
Here one gets information on the basis of categories. We are mapping information with these categories with the help of news, books and videos. Media talks about today, while Oditty gives a bigger picture. It surely talks about today but it also adds everything to it which holds importance. With our platform, it will help users to get in depth knowledge. We have 100 guest authors who are contributing for our web magazine.
Creations
Our very own collection of worldly affairs brought to readers in the most interesting of ways, through our online magazine. This section features a list of books to read, literary quizzes, reading lanes, real virtuality, comic strips and lit events. Scroll through some of the most interesting topics available and we promise you that readers will be entertained and enlightened at the same time. We also bring to them means to check their literary knowledge through our daily quiz.
Future Plans
We have Nine thousand active users monthly. 65% of this traffic is from India, which is great. But what inspires us to work harder and harder is the fact that readers from across the globe are flocking in for the content we are providing. We want to add to it and maximize our user base. Plus, two smart Android Apps are being developed. Sole idea is to focus on ‘what our user wants’. For that, new books, authors, categories and features are being added. 25 lac books already added to the database, more are being added every day. Apart from this, we are also social connect partners of Kumaun Lit Fest. ‘Hyper Local Community’ will also be a big thing.
Experiments & Events
We collaborated with Delhi Public Library to launch a drive ‘Books on Wheels’ in Delhi. This is a Mobile library in a Bus, which travels to places and people can borrow books. We posted our posters on this bus so that people can come to know about us. Apart from it, we have reached out to 9 campuses of Delhi University and one in Tamil Nadu. Idea is to connect with youngsters and make them hit Oditty. Here, we are running campus ambassador program.
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