Hi, my name is Tushar Ajgaonkar and I’m finally a screenwriter. I started working as a construction worker when I was only 10 years old. That was my first job. We lived in an Anglo-Indian ruin in Igatpuri without a roof over our heads to avoid the rent. I sold vada pav, chikki, greeting cards, I gave tuitions at the age of 12… I did everything to contribute to my mother’s 30 rupees-a-day wage working in an alcohol brewery. I managed to complete my 10th, and someone guided me to take up a job as a waiter. I used to get 800 rupees a month plus tips. That was a lot for me.
However, I knew I was meant for bigger things, I always wanted to become a film director. One night, after two months of waiting tables, an old couple walked in. The gentleman looked at me and started asking me questions after scolding me for not doing my job well as I had forgotten most of the condiments in the kitchen while serving them. My mind was elsewhere. “What are you going to get in your 10th?” He asked. “Above 80, for sure,”. “If you get one percent below 80, don’t call this number,” he said as he handed his card over to me.
I got my results a week later. 83%. I called the number and three years later, I had completed my software engineering course, thanks to that gentleman and my uncle financing it. But I always wanted to do something else. I knew it in my 2nd year of engineering… I worked as customer service in BPL mobile before finally ending up in advertising. ‘Advertising would bring me one step closer to becoming a film director’, I thought. I quit several times in between to pursue that journey… but I saw my mom struggling in the small houses that I lived in. So, I decided to earn money, settle her down and then start my journey. 4 months back, I managed to get her settled.
At that exact moment, I quit everything and began on my journey to make it in the entertainment industry. For a boy who was so poor, he didn’t have milk in his tea till he was 18, I have come a long way. But I’m far from the end of my journey.
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