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Chandran spent his childhood in Kerala, playing football, which garnered him a scholarship to play professionally. He traveled around India, competing in regional games. In Delhi, he struck up a friendship with another footballer. When time came to go their separate ways, he gave Chandran a slip of paper: it had his email address scribbled on it. Chandran didn’t know what an email address was, or the Internet.  “I kept asking, do you have a phone number and this guy said, no, email is the best way to keep in touch.”

He returned home to Kerala and went immediately to a cyber cafe to find out.

While football was fun, Chandran wanted a more professional career. He left his farming village in Kerala for Bangalore, hoping to get a job in one of the many call centers. After 40 interviews, he was repeatedly rejected. “I couldn’t speak English very well and that was a big setback,” he says.