In early 2022, a tech-savvy young man named Ravi, a former student of Babu’s and a returnee from the city, approached him with a proposal. Ravi spoke of ShopBeng , a homegrown e-commerce platform designed by tech startups to preserve the soul of small businesses in the digital age. He mentioned a new product line codenamed S061337XHD (or “XHD” for short—a high-definition inventory system with AI-driven demand forecasting). Together, they could revolutionize Babu’s shop without losing its essence.