How I built "india1000.org" in 10 days from scratch?

It all began with a phone call from my brother, Yaswanth (CEO, Hashmint): "Bro, I need you to build a website for me ASAP."

I first learned website building from my roommate, Harsha. When I joined the project, Arvind (CPO, Hashmint) had only a single website design sketched out on a scratch pad — and I have to admit, he did a great job with that sketch.

Frontend

I began by structuring the project folders. The first step was to gather all the necessary design assets — color palettes, fonts, images, logos, and more. Building the entire frontend was a challenging task, especially since frontend work has never been my favorite. Things became easier once I understood where to place reusable components, pages, and utilities, and how to connect and reuse them whenever needed.

Backend

The real adrenaline rush of this project came from working on the backend. It was exciting, full of dopamine hits, and packed with learning. My main task was to create a form for collecting user details, integrate it with a payment gateway, and store this data in a database. I started by creating the relevant fields in database tables, wrote the form's code in the frontend, and then wired it all together.

Deployment

The most challenging part was handling API calls — similar to my earlier experience with the Brec project, but this time for real users. Integrating the payment portal, Almost took 3 sleepless nights, with the form taught me a lot. The second most challenging task was deploying to the server. At one point, I had to change through three different operating systems for the Virtual Private Server(Deleting the OS on VPS and reinstalling was a hideous task). We also faced issues with the frontend language we initially used, which eventually led us to migrate to another one.

DNS and Final Touches

Finally, After almost 9 sleepless nights, I handled DNS configurations, domain names, redirects—all the finishing touches that tie everything together. Oh, and I only had to iterate and change the design about 100 times! Nothing like perfecting every pixel when you're this close to launch.

Personal aspect:

From the moment I started working on the project until the very end, I was in a true flow state. Most days, I got only a few hours of sleep; I barely ate and stayed glued to my chair, fully immersed in the work.

The deep work sessions I practiced over the summer really paid off — I used to lock myself in a room with no distractions, switching off my phone and focusing on just one or two tasks at a time. This deliberate routine made a huge difference. On top of that, my regular meditation sessions helped me stay calm, focused, and resilient throughout the entire process.

In just ten days, I shipped a full-stack, production-grade application ready to serve real-world users.

Peace!

Mahi Sidda