Humans of Bombay (HOB) is India’s largest storytelling platform known for sharing real-life
stories of people from all walks of life, ranging from common individuals to celebrities, with the
aim of promoting empathy and understanding amongst its audience.
The first human behind HOB – Karishma Mehta – came across Brandon Stanton’s Humans of
New York page on Facebook in a chance encounter in 2014. This inspired her to create a
Facebook page for the people of her city, and thus Humans of Bombay was started as a photo
blog. Today, HOB has become a movement and is now a massive community of 5+ million
people across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. Not only that, but it has also
extended its platform beyond Mumbai to cover all Indian cities and connect people across the
globe solely via the power of storytelling.
Through its platform, HOB has been providing glimpses of the struggles and challenges as well
as achievements and successes of every people and celebrities alike for over nine years – one
story at a time. It gives a voice to the voiceless by featuring extraordinary stories of seemingly
ordinary people. Some of these stories deal with difficult subjects like domestic violence,
homosexuality, sex work, drug habits, and other taboo topics to break down societal barriers
and make these conversations more accessible and relatable to a wider audience. Likewise, HOB
authentically documents the myriad facets of the spirit of humanity by telling slice-of-life stories
about human relationships, love, hope, and the power of dreaming, through its platform.
It also adds value to people’s lives by raising funds via crowdfunding for causes across
healthcare, education, and social justice. So far, the community has raised Rs 16 crores in
crowdfunding. During the coronavirus pandemic, the platform collaborated with Gurugram-
based NGO Hemkunt Foundation for a COVID-19 relief fundraising campaign. Through the

HelpIndiaBreath fundraiser, the HOB community raised over INR 1.6 crore in less than six

days, which would help provide Oxygen cylinders free of cost across India.
HOB further leverages its storytelling expertise to help brands tell authentic stories. It has co-
created notable campaigns with over 200+ brands, including Asian Paints, TATA, OkCupid,
Tinder, WhatsApp, Netflix, Flipkart, Dove, Cadbury, HDFC Bank, and JW Marriott to name a few.
The platform has also worked with one of Hershey’s biggest annual campaigns, The Sheroes.
Additionally, HOB was the official storytelling partner for franchise cricket team Rajasthan
Royals for the 16th IPL season, where the platform shared life journeys and heartwarming
anecdotes of the players, bringing out their human side.
HOB is medium-agnostic and helps amplify stories across various channels. Its content is
consumed across print (books and magazines), digital (website and newsletters), outdoor
advertising (billboards, stadiums), social media (Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter), brand films, and more. The platform is on track to evolve into a one-stop solution 360-
degree media house with authentic storytelling at its core.
HOB has also launched ‘How The Hell Did I Do It,’ a talk show on YouTube that brings out the
most unfiltered, human side of numerous celebrities across sports, content creation,
entrepreneurship and other fields. Some of the guests include Aamir Khan, Alia Bhatt, Pankaj
Tripathi, Neena Gupta, and Jos Buttler, amongst others. Through the platform, Founder and CEO

Karishma Mehta has also had the opportunity to interview prominent personalities like Ratan
Tata and PM Narendra Modi and catalogue their inspirational journeys on HOB.