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A mother who had to quit her Rs 50 LPA job, now changing chess scene in North India

By · Via Times of India · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Nidhi stepped away from a lucrative corporate career just before the pandemic to back her daughter Shivika, who demonstrated early talent by placing second in the Delhi State Championship. To keep the pursuit viable after travel costs depleted their savings, the family made major adjustments, including Shivika's father leaving his salaried surgical role at AIIMS Delhi to open a private hospital. Utilizing her professional experience, Nidhi launched an enterprise that coordinates regional fixtures. The organization now relies on 16 paid staff members and 100 volunteers to run more than 40 monthly tournaments.

Key points

  • High travel and coaching expenses combined with weak regional infrastructure can exhaust…: High travel and coaching expenses combined with weak regional infrastructure can exhaust a family's personal savings.
  • Long periods spent accompanying a child to tournaments can inspire scalable commercial so…: Long periods spent accompanying a child to tournaments can inspire scalable commercial solutions for grassroots sports.
  • Nidhi's organization has expanded across eight states, managing over 40 events each month…: Nidhi's organization has expanded across eight states, managing over 40 events each month with a combined workforce of paid staff and volunteers.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

NEW DELHI: Have you ever visited a chess tournament? There is a certain kind of silence that persists outside a tournament hall. It belongs to the parents. Behind the doors, children are hunched over boards in a hush so complete you can hear clocks being slapped. Outside, in the corridor, adults sit with water bottles and phones they are not really looking at, waiting for a result that will arrive as a small face in a doorway, either lit or collapsed.

Most people spend those hours waiting. Nidhi Bhasin Rohilla was once one among them before she finally huffed, "This is not my cup of tea."

Today, the enterprise she has built from the hours of pondering in those noiseless corridors runs events across eight states, more than 40 a month, with about 16 paid staff and roughly 100 volunteers.

Nevertheless, it all began with a corporate salesperson who had to choose between her career and her daughter's.

The choice

Shivika Rohilla, Nidhi's elder daughter, started playing chess in September 2013, aged six and a half. By April next year,…

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