My story

Khoj began as a small app my dad made for me.

Hi, I’m Dhyaan. I’m still a student, and Khoj is my passion project.

How it started

My dad built a small app just for me. It was only for my own use: short lessons on how money, business and the real world work. I found it really useful, and I learned a lot from it. The lessons were practical, the kind of things you don’t usually get to learn at school.

Then other parents asked

When my dad showed it to his friends, they asked if it could be opened up. They wanted it for their own kids too.

Handed over to me

That’s when my dad handed it over to me and asked me to build it out for a bigger audience. It was a very exciting project to be given. I’ve been building it ever since, and I’ve learned quite a lot along the way.

Turning a project for our family into something anyone can use meant far more than the lessons themselves: accounts and sign-in, payments, privacy and parental controls, and keeping children’s data safe. None of it is glamorous, but every part had to work before I could ask another family to trust it.

Why it matters to me

Khoj is a passion project. I’m studying for my 12th exams right now, so I work on it on weekends and late at night. I do it because I want other teenagers to learn these lessons and use them in the real world.

What I hope you do with it

I hope you go on to build something of your own. It doesn’t have to be an app. It can be anything, as long as you care about it enough to keep going.

Tell me what you’d like to read

Khoj gets better with every message I get. Is there a topic you wish someone would explain properly? A business you’ve always wondered about, a money question, or something from the news that didn’t quite make sense? Parents, I’d love to hear what you want your child to learn too.

Write to me at hindochadhyaan@gmail.com. I read every email, and your idea might become the next lesson.

Dhyaan Hindocha