31/05/2026
22 years back, I left home with one bag and a promise.
Not because I wanted to. Because I had to. There were commitments, mouths to feed, expectations no one talks about out loud. Chennai didn’t know me. I didn’t know Chennai. But I had to make it work.
The first few years were brutal. No clients, no name, no shortcuts. I measured rooms with a borrowed tape. I sketched on the back of bill books. I said yes to work nobody else wanted — just to eat and to learn.
And people? People came and went like seasons.
Partners who shook my hand and vanished when money got tight. “Friends” who borrowed my drawings and opened shops next door. Team members I trained for months who left the day a bigger offer came. Every time, it broke something. Every time, I quietly fixed it and kept walking.
But here’s the strange part — for every person who left, life sent me someone new.
A carpenter who became family. A client who trusted me with their life savings. A young designer who reminded me why I started. New faces, new sites, new stories — every single year for 22 years.
Today stands on 2,700+ projects across Chennai, Bangalore and Pune and rest of India
But honestly? That’s not the number I’m proud of.
I’m proud that in 22 years I never took one hidden commission. Never inflated a quotation. Never sold a client what they didn’t need. The struggle taught me one thing — stay transparent, even when it costs you. Especially when it costs you.
22 years. Many goodbyes. Many new hellos. And one promise I never broke.
To everyone who left — thank you for the lessons.
To everyone who stayed — you are the reason.
To everyone I’m yet to meet — I’m ready. 🙏
This is just the beginning of the next 22.
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Founder, Annuraj Interiors | The Transparent Designer