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Labour Day, and the Labour Behind The Mandarin Story

  • themandarinstory
  • May 1
  • 2 min read

Labour Day feels like exactly the right day to show the labour I've been putting into building The Mandarin Story. Life's been a bit off the grid lately. But I'm showing up here today to share what the first four months of 2026 have actually looked like.


Four months, in numbers

Here's the snapshot of what I delivered between January and April:

  • 3 Chinese cross-cultural trainings for Schaeffler

  • 3 Chinese Foundation Course batches

  • 2 HSK 1 batches

  • 2 HSK 2 batches

  • 2 HSK 3 batches

  • 2 global webinars

  • and our first ever offline meetup in Bangalore 🥹

330+ hours taught. 166 students in 2026 alone.

And none of it, not one batch, would have happened without Yashika. Every follow-up, every behind-the-scenes thing that students never see, she's been the backbone of TMS. So before anything else: thank you, Yashika. 🫶



The part the numbers don't show

Here's something I don't say often enough: it took me six years to grow from earning ₹20K a month to ₹3L a month. Six years. And I want to be honest about why it took that long. Not because I couldn't have pushed harder. Because I refused to build a business that ate the rest of my life.


So across those six years:

  • I travelled four times a year, for my own growth

  • I stayed consistent with my physical and mental health

  • I kept learning, inside and outside the language industry

  • I kept refining my courses and my teaching, chasing the best Mandarin learning experience I could give

  • I always made time for the things I love: singing, improv, capoeira, board games


That was the dream the whole time. Build something real without compromising on any single area of life.


"But slower means less ambitious," right?

I know how this sounds to some people. In a world obsessed with hockey-stick growth, taking six years to reach ₹3L a month can look like a lack of ambition.

I'd argue the opposite. Anyone can grow fast by setting fire to their health, their relationships, and their weekends. The harder version, the genuinely ambitious one, is growing while keeping all of that intact. I didn't go slow because I lacked drive. I went sustainable because I had a clearer idea of what winning meant.


What I actually built

I didn't only build a Mandarin school. I built proof that you can grow a business and still be a whole person at the end of it. Healthy. Curious. Still singing, still playing board games.

And now that I've reached the dream I set out for, I'm ready for the next one. 🌟


Stay tuned

More on that soon. That story deserves its own post.

I'll be documenting all of it.




Want to learn Mandarin with me?

My next online batch of the Foundation Mandarin Course for absolute beginners starts soon, small group, live, and taught by me. The upcoming one begins 15th June (Monday and Wednesday, 6:30 to 8:30 PM IST), early bird active, with only a few spots left. If you've been curious, come join. Dates and registration are on my website, or just whatsapp me with any questions before you decide at +91 8431621713


 
 
 

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