Originally reported and written in September 2023, this story has been republished as part of our archival content.

Back in 2016, like any usual day, Professor Nidhi Katare left to give a lecture at her college in Gwalior. But as soon as she reached there, she got to know that the premises would soon be demolished. This came as a huge, unexpected shock to her.

“When this college was being built, I was entrusted with setting up the science laboratories from scratch. Every lab was constructed under my supervision. But when the authorities got good money for the land on which the college was built, they had it demolished,” the 38-year-old recalls in a conversation with The Better India.

“I taught in that college for almost 10 years. The campus was reduced to ruins in front of me. It was so heartbreaking. It seemed like a decade of my work was wasted. This is when I decided to invest my time and energy in something that I can call my own,” she adds.

Although she got many offers from other colleges, the MSc graduate in microbiology decided to venture into entrepreneurship and started a business in mushroom farming that earns her up to Rs 1.5 lakh per month today.

Mushrooming the college syllabus into business

Born and raised in Farukhadbad, Uttar Pradesh, Nidhi completed her master's from Jiwaji University of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. A year later in 2007, she started teaching at a private college in the Gwalior city.

As part of the syllabus, she would teach mushroom cultivation to her students. However, she never knew until 2016 that she could build a career in the topic she taught. “Since I studied microbiology, I already knew the nitty-gritty of mushroom cultivation. This seemed a better idea for business,”........

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