ClairBoone at 23:26, 7 February 2026

2026-02-07T23:26:41Z

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{{Short description|Writer and photographer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Karishma Mehta
| image = Karishma Mehta, Ordinary People Extraordinary Stories launch, standing.jpg
| caption = Mehta at 2019 launch of her book, ''Humans of Bombay: Ordinary People Extraordinary Stories''
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1992|03|05}} | birth_place = [[Mumbai]], [[India]]
| occupation = {{Flatlist|
* Writer
* Photographer
}}
| known_for = [[Humans of Bombay]]
| years_active = 2014–present
}}

'''Karishma Mehta''' (born 5 March 1992) is the founder of the photo blog page [[Humans of Bombay]] which launched in January 2014, and author of the related book ''Humans of Bombay''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thepostindia.co.in/14013-2/|title= Meet The Founder: Karishma Mehta {Humans of Bombay}|website= The Post|date= 7 July 2020|language=en |access-date=2020-07-07}}</ref>

==Biography==
Mehta was born and raised in [[Mumbai]] and attended the [[Bombay Scottish School, Mahim]].<ref name="Singh 2015">{{cite news |last1=Singh |first1=Tanaya |title=Meet the Human Behind the Popular 'Humans of Bombay' Page |url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/39315/humans-of-bombay-facebook-karishma-mehta/ |access-date=17 June 2021 |work=[[The Better India]] |date=26 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="Joshi 2016">{{cite news |last1=Joshi |first1=Poorva |date=6 May 2016 |title=Meet Karishma Mehta, the woman behind Humans of Bombay |work=[[Hindustan Times]] |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/meet-karishma-mehta-the-woman-behind-humans-of-bombay/story-Zwhwt3VJmysEGx62ZsuukJ.html |access-date=17 June 2021}}</ref> She attended a boarding school in [[Bangalore]] for two years and then college in the UK for three years.<ref name="Singh 2015"/> In 2013, Mehta was an economics and business student in Nottingham, UK,<ref name="Joshi 2016"/> and holds a degree in business and economics<ref name="Shaikh 2018">{{cite news |last1=Shaikh |first1=Sadaf |date=11 January 2018 |title=Karishma Mehta On How Humans Of Bombay Captures The Invincible Spirit Of The City |work=[[Verve (Indian magazine)|Verve]] |url=https://www.vervemagazine.in/people/karishma-mehta-on-how-humans-of-bombay-captures-the-invincible-spirit-of-the-city |access-date=17 June 2021}}</ref> from the [[University of Nottingham]].<ref name="Vaz 2016">{{cite news |last1=Vaz |first1=Wyanet |title=Karishma Mehta On The Power Of A Facebook Page |url=https://www.vervemagazine.in/people/karishma-mehta-humans-of-bombay |access-date=18 June 2021 |work=[[Verve (Indian magazine)|Verve]] |date=29 April 2016}}</ref><ref name="Lakhe 2014">{{cite news |last1=Lakhe |first1=Amruta |date=22 April 2014 |title=Being the humans of Bombay |work=The Indian Express |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/being-the-humans-of-bombay/ |access-date=20 June 2021}}</ref> She is a freelance writer for various publications, including ''[[National Geographic]]''.<ref name="Joshi 2016" /> She is a [[TED (conference)#TEDx|TEDx]] speaker.<ref name="Borges 2017">{{cite news |last1=Borges |first1=Andre |title=People Are Inspired By The Woman Behind Humans Of Bombay Honestly Speaking About Her Failures |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/andreborges/people-really-appreciate-the-woman-behind-humans-of-bombay |access-date=17 June 2021 |work=[[BuzzFeed]] |date=17 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="Rodrigues 2018">{{cite news |last1=Rodrigues |first1=Janice |title=Meet the Humans of Bombay founder |url=https://www.khaleejtimes.com/lifestyle/meet-the-humans-of-bombay-founder |access-date=17 June 2021 |work=[[Khaleej Times]] |date=3 August 2018}}</ref> Mehta is fluent in Hindi, English and Marathi.<ref name="Rodrigues 2018" /> She is the niece of [[Zarna Garg]].

==Works==
In January 2014, Mehta began the ''Humans of Bombay'' Facebook page, copied from American Photographer [[Brandon Stanton]]'s - the [[Humans of New York]] (HoNY) Facebook page.<ref name="Joshi 2016" /><ref name="Lakhe 2016">{{cite news |last1=Lakhe |first1=Amruta |date=14 April 2016 |title=From the heart, through a lens |work=[[The Hindu]] |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/from-the-heart-through-a-lens/article8474697.ece |access-date=17 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="Shaikh 2018" /> After discovering the HoNY page in 2013, she tried to find a similar page for Mumbai, and after not finding one, she created a logo and made a Facebook page herself.<ref name="Joshi 2016" /> To find subjects for the website, Mehta approached people on the street<ref name="Joshi 2016" /><ref name="Shaikh 2018" /><ref name="Rodrigues 2018" /> and interviewed them.<ref name="Lakhe 2014" /> By 2018, her team had expanded to six members based in Mumbai, with freelance members in other parts of India.<ref name="Rodrigues 2018" />

In 2016, Mehta compiled posts, into a self-published book, ''Humans of Bombay'',<ref name="Shaikh 2018" /> in her attempt to directly raise money to fund the website.<ref name="Joshi 2016" />

As of 2021, the site has over a million followers on Facebook and over two million on Instagram.<ref>{{Cite news |title=She Was Just 21 When She Started 'Humans Of Bombay'. Here's Her Story |url=https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/karishma-mehta-the-woman-who-started-humans-of-bombay-heres-her-story-2623975 |access-date=2022-07-05 |website=NDTV.com | first=Sanya | last=Jain | date=25 November 2021}}</ref> In 2022, she launched an interview-based YouTube web series called "How The Hell Did I Do It?" which features businesspeople, celebrities, and other accomplished people answering interview questions to provide insight on how they accomplished certain things in their lives.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-10 |title=How the hell did she do it? |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/brunch/how-the-hell-did-she-doit-101662816067956.html |access-date=2022-09-23 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref>

== Plagiarism and Controversy ==
In October 2023, Mehta faced widespread cyber trolling after a failed attempt at suing another page 'People of India' for copyright infringement and Mehta's work called out for plagiarism.<ref>{{Cite web |title="Received Death, Rape Threats": Humans Of Bombay CEO Amid Plagiarism Row |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/received-death-rape-threats-humans-of-bombay-ceo-and-founder-karishma-mehta-amid-plagiarism-row-4473935 |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=NDTV.com}}</ref> Mehta and Humans of Bombay also received criticism from their inspiration Brandon Stanton, the founder of the Humans of New York<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-09-27 |title='Haven't received a penny for a single story': Humans of New York founder hits back at Humans of Bombay for reducing art to a 'product' |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/havent-received-a-penny-for-a-single-story-humans-of-new-york-founder-hits-back-at-humans-of-bombay-for-reducing-art-to-a-product/articleshow/103962624.cms?from=mdr |access-date=2024-12-18 |work=The Economic Times |issn=0013-0389}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=How Humans of Bombay Lost at Its Own Game |url=https://www.thejuggernaut.com/humans-of-new-york-controversy-humans-of-bombay-lawsuit |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=The Juggernaut |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-09-25 |title=Humans of Bombay vs. Humans of New York: All you need to know about the controversy |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/etimes/trending/humans-of-bombay-vs-humans-of-new-york-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-controversy/articleshow/103928016.cms |access-date=2024-12-18 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/almost-every-photo-has-a-common-undertone-of-mumbai-karishma-mehta/story-mH8CdDam8CB1FyQ02XMnXN.html Almost every photo has a common undertone of Mumbai: Karishma Mehta] (''Hindustan Times'', 2016)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Karishma}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Nottingham]]
[[Category:Writers from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Indian women photographers]]
[[Category:Indian writers]]
[[Category:Indian photographers]]
[[Category:1992 births]]

Karishma Mehta - Revision history

ClairBoone at 23:26, 7 February 2026