If you had told me two years ago that I’d be coding an entire app, managing servers, and deploying web infrastructure — I would’ve laughed and gone back to my anaesthetic machine. I’m a doctor, not a developer. I deal with oxygen levels, not Python errors.
But here we are. Two years later, I have a fully functional web app, iOS app, Android app, and a custom-built website — all created (quite literally) from scratch.
This is the story of how that happened.
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Act 1: The “Smart” Start That Went Nowhere
About two years ago, I had a clear vision: I wanted to build an app around my memory technique — a method I’d been refining for over two decades. It’s a system that turns keywords into glyphs and then into simple line drawings — something anyone can recall instantly.
It sounded doable… until I tried to actually build it.
So, I did what most rational people do when they have no idea how to code — I hired professionals. I spent €10,000 with a software company to develop GAMT-Ai, the AI-powered version that would supposedly develop own ai model to draw my images automatically.
The pitch was irresistible:
“We’ll build an AI to draw your GAMTs. It’s the future of memory.”
I was sold. Six months later, I had… absolutely nothing.
All we had was a concept that barely worked. It was not hard to realise that we were out of our depth to create this at that time with the resources we had.
Was it frustrating? Yes.
Was it a waste? Not really.
Because that failure gave me something more valuable than progress — it gave me clarity.
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Act 2: The Pivot (a.k.a. “Maybe I Can Do It Better Myself”)
In the middle of that chaos, I realized there was a different way to build it. A more structured, manual approach — less elegant perhaps, but achievable.
When I explained this to the original team, they smiled and said, “That’s not possible.”
A few weeks later, they called back.
“Actually, it might be possible. For another €10,000–15,000.”
That’s when I decided to pivot — both in approach and attitude.
I left that team, found another, and said,
“Forget mobile apps for now. Let’s just build a web app that works and gave them my new plan.”
They agreed. We worked together for six months and finally launched the first version. It wasn’t perfect, but it was real.
There was just one problem: when you typed a keyword and hit search, it took five minutes to get a result.
Five. Whole. Minutes.
Let’s just say that’s not quite the “instant AI experience” I had in mind.
So there I was — €20,000 poorer, staring at a barely functional web app with missing features and no clear path forward. The developers had fulfilled their contract, closed the project, and wished me luck.
And that’s when something inside me clicked.
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Act 3: Enter Dr. Karthik, Accidental Coder
I remember the moment clearly. It was late at night, and I was chatting with ChatGPT (yes, the irony). I typed something like,
“Can i build this myself with zero coding knowledge if I use chatGPT? ”
And that’s where it began — my coding journey.
I downloaded VS Code, watched a mountain of YouTube tutorials, and learned the basics of Python, Flask, and database design. I dabbled with Chatgpt to create the codes for me. I never used a command prompt in terminal. it was scary at first. I was working wiht one file at a time from the project. Chatgpt at that time was only able to work on one file which was open in another tab. One change at a time. Sometimes I had to make the change myself. I never reaslied until then that syntax mattered! Tab is not same as space and code alignment with tabs is not for just looking pretty!!! My first scripts were messy, clumsy, and occasionally catastrophic. But every failure taught me something.
The funny part? I started fixing problems in the web app that professional developers told me were “too complex.”
The biggest breakthrough came when I rewrote the core algorithm — the part that used to take five minutes to process. I refined it line by line, working with ChatGPT like a silent pair programmer.
Today, that same algorithm runs in less than a second.
When I saw that happen for the first time, I literally jumped from my chair. It was like watching a long-delayed miracle finally arrive.
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Act 4: The Expansion — Web, iOS, Android
Once the core worked, I couldn’t stop. I built the iOS app, then the Android app, and refined the web version alongside them.
Each new platform came with its own unique headaches — permissions, dependencies, build errors, certificates — but I was hooked.
By this point, it wasn’t even about cost anymore. It was about mastery.
Some nights I’d be debugging till 3 a.m., half-asleep but completely absorbed, and I’d think, “What am I doing? I’m supposed to be an anaesthetist.”
And then, right after fixing something impossible, I’d think, “Actually… I might just be a developer now.”
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Act 5: The Website — Built From the Ground Up
At this stage, most sane people would’ve used Wix or Squarespace. But sanity left the room months ago.
I built the entire website myself — no builders, no templates, no shortcuts. Just clean code, cloud hosting, and a lot of trial and error.
Of course, AI helped — but AI was a partner, not a replacement. Every line of code was an experiment, and every error was a new skill earned.
Now, when I look at the finished product — the website, the apps, the entire ecosystem — it feels surreal. It’s not perfect (no project ever is), but it’s mine. Every button, every function, every tiny pixel — I know how it works, because I built it.
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Act 6: Looking Back (and Forward)
I started this journey on April 2, 2025. It’s now November, and I have three apps, a working website, and an entirely new worldview.
Eight months ago, I couldn’t tell the difference between JavaScript and Java. Today, I can spin up a server, connect APIs, build a backend, and deploy to production.
If that’s not transformation, I don’t know what is.
I’ve learned that learning itself is the ultimate adventure. Whether this app becomes a massive success or not is almost secondary now. The real win is the process — the late nights, the breakthroughs, the laughter when something absurd worked by accident.
This project reminded me why I created GAMT in the first place: to help people learn better, to connect memory and creativity, and to make knowledge truly stick.
And somewhere along the way, I ended up learning more than I ever expected — not just about coding, but about resilience, curiosity, and trusting the process.
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Epilogue: Passion > Profit
People often ask if I expect to make a profit from this.
Maybe. Maybe not.
That’s not the point.
I didn’t build GAMT because I thought it’d make me rich. I built it because I love it — because it’s a piece of me that has evolved over 20 years of curiosity, experimentation, and stubborn belief.
If this app helps even a handful of students, doctors, or lifelong learners rediscover the joy of memory — that’s success enough for me.
And if you’re wondering whether you can learn to code, or build something completely outside your comfort zone, my honest advice is: go for it.
You’ll fail a dozen times, but you’ll learn a thousand things.
And someday, you’ll look at your screen, watch your code run perfectly, and think:
“Wow. I actually built this.”
And trust me — that’s one of the best feelings in the world.
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