In a quiet village of Rajasthan, with no facilities and no proper education, lived a 10-year-old girl named Chandni. Her father used to work at a landlord’s farm for a low income, her mother was a homemaker, and their family struggled to make ends meet. Yet Chandni carried a bright dream in her heart to be able to earn a lot of money for her parents so that they could be financially independent and give them a peaceful life.
Chandni was a kind hearted girl who was ready to help anyone in need and everyone loved her. Every afternoon Chandni wandered through the village, playing with children, helping elderly people with tasks as minor as carrying their groceries.
One day, she noticed a poster announcing the opening of a bakery in her village. She was amazed by the very idea of a bakery in the village that was owned by a girl, as it was a big thing for the villagers.
The day finally came when the bakery had to open. Chandni was eager to know what the girl owner of the bakery would be selling. The crowd appeared curious and excited by the opening of the first ever bakery in the village. Chandni tried to peek from the kitchen window. The owner, whose name was Rosie, was in need of a worker who could help her with maintaining the bakery’s sanitary standards. “Would you like to clean my bakery?” she asked Chandni.
Chandni hesitated at first but agreed. She realised her parents needed the money. After Chandni was finished with the work for that day, Rosie found her curiously flipping through a recipe book.
“I have a better idea,” Rosie said with a kind smile. “Instead of paying you, why don’t I teach you how to bake cookies? You can establish a business of your own afterwards.”
Chandni’s eyes sparkled. This was her chance to learn properly. “My name is Rosie,” the woman said. “I’m Chandni,” she replied softly.
Rosie asked, “Do you cook often?” Chandni nodded shyly. “It seems you’re good at it,” Rosie encouraged. “Thank you,” Chandni whispered, smiling.
From then on, Chandni began spending more time at the bakery. Over the months, Rosie taught her recipes and tips, and the two grew close friends. Eventually Rosie offered Chandni a small job at the bakery — baking cookies and helping with cleaning. Chandni’s heart filled with joy. Chandni tried to make the cookies in the pressure cooker at home through the guidelines that Rosie taught her and she borrowed some ingredients too. She failed a couple of times, burned them or wasn’t able to cook them properly. Rosei told her it wasn’t a big deal and that it happens at times and was a part of the learning process and asked her to just keep trying. Eventually one day she succeeded and was so happy. Chandni wrapped her perfectly cooked cookies in newspapers and kept them in a basket and went out with a sparkling smile as she was proud of herself. She knocked at doors saying –“madam would you like to try my cookies?”, gave to the children until she ran out of them since she was delighted that she earned fistful of coins and the children were so happy that they got the chance to taste them which they couldn’t afford at the bakery. The elderly also appreciated her idea of selling them at low prices. Chandni started doing this every weekend.
People and children were now waiting for the weekends. Now she had learned to bake brownies and cakes and was ready to introduce a box which contained cookies, brownies and cakes. She named the package box- chandni ka dabba
Everything was working out. Rosie also started to order from Chandni. Chandni was even more famous in nearby. Her Chandni ka Dabba gained more popularity over time. Her hard work was paying off. Customers loved her products Her packaging wasn’t costly. She simply wrapped her cookies in newspapers but she made each cookie with her whole heart and love. Then one afternoon Rosie called her: “You won’t believe it! We just got a bulk order — fifty boxes!” Chandni could hardly contain her excitement. She had never thought this day would ever come.
She rushed home to tell her parents. They were proud. She carefully bought ingredients, prepared the order with great care. She didn’t want to ruin such a big deal. She was nervous and sweating. Finally, it was delivered, her hands were shaking but the customer was delighted and sent her a message praising the cookies and it was all she needed.
One day, she woke up and went to buy ingredients that were required at the shop. Chandni opened her locker and realised that ₹50,000 had disappeared from the locker. It was all the money she had saved. Her heart sank. She was ashamed and heartbroken.
Chandni shut down her business, feeling defeated. But Rosie visited her and said, “Don’t give up now. You can recover this loss. Start again.” With Rosie’s encouragement, Chandni found new determination.
She borrowed some money from Rosie and returned to baking, joined fairs and festivals, and gradually rebuilt her business. This time she worked even harder. Eventually she opened a store, then a café and became one of the most well-known bakers in Rajasthan. Grateful for Rosie’s support, Chandni even gifted her a car.
From a girl who could hardly afford a packet of butter and ate only one roti a day, she had grown into a successful entrepreneur — all because she refused to give up, even after a huge setback.
