So, this is a story of a self-made man from Chandigarh, named Mohit Bansal. His life story is so inspiring that I had to write it down and share it here. Mohit Bansal was born in harsh conditions in a slum in Chandigarh. His father didn’t earn much and the monthly income of his whole family was approximately just $75. Things were so bad for them that some days, his father had to go to sleep with an empty stomach just to feed his wife and son.
Mohit didn’t want to give up and he decided that he’ll study hard and grow up to be a rich man. I think God didn’t want him to go through life easily. When he was 13, his mother left him and his father alone and soon after that, his father fell ill. His performance in school started declining as he started staying at home to take care of his father. Two or three months after that, his father died.
After that incident, Mohit Bansal was completely heartbroken. He stopped studying completely and moved in with his uncle (father’s brother). His uncle was a very strict and abusive man. Whenever Mohit Bansal cried while reminiscing his father, his uncle used to shut him up by scolding him and saying things like, “a man should never cry”. Mohit Bansal became very sad and spent most of his time working in a photo studio.
He rejoined school because his uncle forced him to. His uncle was a drunk and he wanted everything to happen according to his will. So, Mohit Bansal had to join his school again… unwillingly. He didn’t have any interest in anything because he constantly kept thinking about his father. All this had to change. One day in the photo studio, Mohit Bansal stumbled upon the love of his life… a camera. He knew at the moment he saw a camera that he wants to be a photographer.
He used to touch and play around with that camera whenever he was alone in the photo studio. Mohit Bansal knew that he has found his passion for photography. He started working hard and started to same money to buy his first camera. After saving money for two years, Mohit Bansal bought his first camera at the age of 15. Although it was a basic model, Mohit Bansal was extremely happy and decided that he will not stop here.
He wanted to earn more money and buy the professional camera he needed to kickstart his career as a professional photographer. So, he decided to set up a photo stall outside his school where he used to take pictures of his fellow students and charged them less than expensive photo studios. The students were very happy with this as they got studio-quality photos at a price much less than that of a photo studio.
After working sixteen hours every day for straight three years while attending his school and passing in his 12th examinations, Mohit Bansal was able to purchase his first professional camera. He saved so much money that he was able to rent a shop for himself… his first photo studio. On that day, Mohit Bansal felt like the happiest man in Chandigarh.
Mohit Bansal didn’t want to keep his talent just to himself and he also wanted to help the poor and unprivileged children. He didn’t want anyone with a childhood similar to the one he had, to suffer or go through any kind of trauma because of being stuck in life. So after some time, when he had earned a considerable amount of money, he started his free photography classes for unprivileged children.
He was 22 when he started giving these classes and he’s still giving them now. Mohit Bansal has also turned many of his students into his employees in the past few years. The others opted to work independently. This helped Mohit Bansal in establishing a beautiful and grand photo studio and a great network of young and talented photographers trained by Mohit Bansal himself.
Today, Mohit Bansal is one of the most popular names in Chandigarh and an inspirational personality for budding photographers all around the world. His story truly inspires me a lot and unleashes the achiever in me. This is a story that everyone must know and use to get inspired and motivated.