IsTomorrowHartal – the website that made Pathao happen
In an interview with The Business Standard, Pathao co-founder and former CEO Hussain M Elius talks about how IsTomorrowHartal.com came about
"Hey, IsTomorrowHartal is really cool", was the text message that brought together two of the brightest minds, who later ended up founding Pathao in 2015, the Bangladeshi on-demand platform for sharing rides, delivering food and a lot more.
The text message was sent by the late Fahim Saleh, one of the three co-founders of Pathao, to the platform's co-founder and former CEO, Hussain M Elius.
"Because of IsTomorrowHartal, Pathao as a business exists because I met my co-founders through this website," Hussain M Elius said in remembrance of his deceased friend and business partner.
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During an interview with The Business Standard, Elius said the core idea behind the website was to answer hartal queries with either a simple "Yes" or a "No".
"It took me only 30 minutes to make the website. People had become very confused at one point, you know. There were continuous hartals and blockades back in 2014 and 2015," he said, recalling the days when he really felt the need for IsTomorrowHartal.
"There were instances where political parties announced hartals till Wednesday. So, everyone already knows that there will be no hartal on Thursday. Later, they used to announce hartal for Thursday on Wednesday night," Elius added.
People liked the idea because they did not need to visit online news portals and spend time scrolling through different reports to figure out whether or not there was a hartal the next day.
"In some instances, people just got lazy and did not feel like spending that much time either."
Someone basically asks their browser IsTomorrowHartal, and a website pops up that has the answer written in big text, Elius said.
"That's what people care about. They don't care who announced it or why. They just want to know if there is a hartal tomorrow."
IsTomorrowHartal is not a business to Elius. He terms it a "hobby project" that makes the lives of others easier, and he doesn't want any changes to the site either.
"I thought about adding other elements like information on political rallies. But I later realised being simple and straightforward served the site's purpose."
This is a website where people come to get the answer with a YES or NO, and it will remain that way, he added.
IsTomorrowHartal resurfaces before every national polls
During the interview, Hussain M Elius said the website resurfaces whenever there are hartals.
The website doesn't get any views on days with no hartals. However, before polls, it starts to become very active.
"I recorded as many as 20,000 views on some days with hartal," he said.
It usually stays between 15,000 to 20,000 on hartal days.
Elius also shared the webpage with his followers before the 2018 national polls, even though there were fewer hartals.
"Back in 2015, people I know often used to post or text me asking whether there was hartal the next day or not. After making the website, I just started leaving the link as a reply to their Facebook posts or messages," he said.
"It was fun. People liked the idea and started doing the same. That's how the website gets traffic. Each and every view is organic," he added.
During IsTomorrowHartal's starting days, several radio stations, including Radio Foorti, started to cover it during their shows. It also brought traffic to the site.
