ABOUT ME
Kanpur to mumbai
I was born in Kanpur, in a small Hindi-medium world, where English was something only “big people” spoke. Like many non-English medium students, English always felt distant and intimidating. I studied only till the 6th standard in Kanpur, and for most of my childhood, English felt far away.
My father was already working in Mumbai as a journalist for an Urdu newspaper, Urdu Times. He was an honest journalist — the kind who never took money from politicians, builders, or anyone with power. He lived on his simple salary, and he lived with dignity.
When our financial situation became tight, my mother and I shifted to Mumbai to join him. We settled in Mumbra, a place that has shaped my heart and identity even today.
Life wasn’t easy. When the need arose, I worked.
From Class 9 to Class 12, I worked as a waiter in wedding catering. Not fancy parties — real Mumbai weddings in places like Roha, Pen, Nagothane, Kalyan, Thane, and many small towns around.
Heavy utensils. Long nights. Big crowds.
I wasn’t ashamed — I was learning life.
Those weddings taught me humility, confidence, and how to speak to all kinds of people.
Years later, when I began writing about communication and confidence, I realised something important:
that was my first communication training — long before English ever entered my life.
And perhaps that is why, today as an author writing for students from non-English medium backgrounds, I understand their hesitation, their silence, and their desire to speak with confidence.
My hindi medium roots
I completed my 10th standard in Hindi medium from B.S. Jondhale Vidyamandir, Mumbra.
People often say students from non-English medium backgrounds cannot speak English confidently.
I lived with that label.
I carried that fear.
After 10th, I took Commerce… and quickly realised:
Accounts is not for me.
So I shifted to Arts for graduation — Political Science and Economics.
Later, I went on to complete my Master’s in English Literature from Joshi Bedekar College, Thane.
From a Hindi-medium boy in Kanpur
to an English Literature postgraduate —
this journey eventually became the backbone of the Confluent Mission.
How i became a teacher
by chance not by choice
Like many students from non-English medium backgrounds, I joined English classes across Mumbai, searching for fluency and confidence.
I attended four or five of them… and then I walked into the classroom of Kanaz ma’am.
She changed everything.
I joined as a student.
Within days, she saw something in me — something I did not yet see in myself.
She offered me the role of assistant teacher.
And that’s how I accidentally became a teacher.
Not by planning.
By possibility.
From there, I taught in a well-known English-speaking institute in Mumbai, and later worked under the U.S. Embassy’s Access Program, teaching tribal students in Atgaon. Those children taught me more about courage, curiosity, and humanity than any university ever could.
But through all these years, one truth kept repeating itself:
Students understood English…
but they still couldn’t speak.
That question stayed with me for years — and eventually became the starting point of my work as an author writing about confidence, fluency, and the real struggles of students from non-English medium backgrounds.
but
The Real Problem I Saw Everywhere
Whether I taught in colleges, villages, Zoom classes, or coaching centres…
the issue was always the same — especially among students from non-English medium backgrounds
Lack of Confidence
Many students had ideas in their mind, but the moment they had to speak in English, fear appeared. They worried about mistakes, judgment, and embarrassment.
Lack of fluency
Students often knew basic grammar and vocabulary from school, but they had never practised speaking regularly. Without practice, words stay in the mind but do not come out smoothly.
Lack of self-belief
After hearing for years that “English is difficult” or “English is not for us,” many students quietly start believing it. This belief becomes a bigger barrier than the language itself.
lack of guidance
Most learners are told what to study — grammar rules, word lists, exercises — but very few are shown how to practise speaking every day and improve step by step.
This is why even smart, capable students from non-English medium backgrounds kept saying:
“I know English… but I can’t speak.”
They had studied English in school.
They understood many words.
But when it was time to speak — confidence disappeared.
This became my life’s question:
How do we fix this for India?
The Search for a Better Way
In 2020, I launched Zia’s Conversation Club — a place for real speaking practice, especially for students from non-English medium backgrounds who rarely get a chance to speak.
No grammar lectures.
No pressure.
Just speaking, confidence, and feedback.
The club helped hundreds of learners… but there was still one limitation:
I could help only the people who could reach me.
I wanted students from small towns, non-English medium schools, busy schedules, limited resources, and low confidence to get the same speaking practice opportunities.
And then AI arrived.
Not as a trend.
Not as a shortcut.
But as the missing piece.
AI Completed the System
AI finally gave learners what I could never give alone:
what i do today
I don’t teach English the traditional way.
I don’t approach English the traditional way.
I don’t believe in grammar-heavy classes.
I don’t run personality development batches.
My work as an author focuses on a very specific group of learners — students from non-English medium backgrounds who understand English but still struggle to speak it confidently.
Through my writing and practice systems, I help learners discover:
• how to remove the fear of speaking
• how to express their own ideas clearly
• how to practise speaking every day using AI
• how to build confidence from the inside out
• how to grow without depending on any teacher
The framework behind this work is simple.
The MKPF Framework gives clarity.
AI enables daily practice.
And the learner builds independence.
This is not tuition.
This is not a typical spoken English course.
This is a practice movement — designed especially for students from non-English medium backgrounds who want to finally find their voice.
why i do this
Because I know what it feels like:
To be from a non English medium school.
To feel small in English rooms.
To work at weddings and struggle to support your family.
To grow without shortcuts.
To build confidence from scratch.
To find your voice slowly, painfully, but surely.
I don’t want the next generation to struggle the same way.
If you understand English but hesitate to speak…
if you are almost there…
if you want confidence without judgement…
You are exactly who I’m here for.