Born in the early 1960s, B.K. Bhayana was a quiet boy from Rohtak, Haryana, who grew up in a modest household. He spent his childhood playing cricket under the guava and pomegranate trees in front of his house. No one then could have predicted that this quiet child would grow into a man who would earn a U.S. patent and launch a startup at the age of sixty-two. This article traces B.K. Bhayana’s brilliant life journey, filled with innovation and insights.

Developing A Troubleshooting Mind

Bhayana’s journey into the world of logic and systems began when he took up an electrical engineering course at his father’s direction. After graduating with a diploma in 1982, he spent the first seven to eight years of his career in electrical maintenance. It was a high-pressure environment where, if a machine malfunctioned, he had to troubleshoot and fix it quickly so that production would not be interrupted. Every time a machine failed, Bhayana had to rack his brain to repair it. However, with each fix, he became faster and more precise. Over the years, he mastered the art of diagnosing problems and solving them efficiently.

A Remarkable Breakthrough

As a master problem solver and also as a confident marketer, B.K. Bhayana worked in the electrical industry in various leadership positions for 3 decades. But a major breakthrough of his career occurred in 2017. A customer from Pune presented a technical challenge. The solar water pump controllers were consistently tripping on 220V motors. This was a problem that even industry giants had failed to solve.

Initially, Bhayana told the customer a solution was impossible. However, his troubleshooting mind would not let the problem rest. It lingered in his mind. One evening, while driving from Gurgaon to Faridabad, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him. He immediately pulled his vehicle off the road, sketched a circuit, and took it to his engineers the next morning. A problem that was considered unsolvable by Industry experts was solved! He immediately applied for a US patent and finally got it in June 2022. This is a lifetime milestone that only a few can achieve and Bhayana became one of them.

The Second Act: Elevate Pillow

After a brilliant career, in 2023, Bhayana retired in 2023 at the age of sixty-two. After retirement, he faced the "workaholic’s" greatest challenge: a day with nothing to do. Bhayana knew that an empty mind is a devil’s workshop. So, he put his problem-solving muscle to work, and he looked for a problem to solve and found one in his own cervical pain.

Applying the same R&D rigour he used in the industry, he spent four months designing a solution. When he discovered his design was unique across the internet, he navigated the complex patent process and launched his own startup: Elevate Pillow. Today, he wears his company logo on his t-shirt with pride, a "budding entrepreneur" who refused to let retirement be a stop sign.

What Bhayana’s Journey Teaches Us

While running his own firm, Bhayana spends his time mentoring young girls at an NGO, teaching them how to troubleshoot their own career paths. BK Bhayana’s life teaches us that a troubleshooting mind is a lifelong asset. It is the ability to look at a broken machine, a personal fear, or a technical industry failure and believe that a correction exists.