Humans of Bombay
Type of site | Photoblog |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Karishma Mehta |
| Employees | 5 |
| URL | https://www.humansofbombay.in/ |
| Commercial | Private limited company |
| Launched | 2014 |
| Current status | Online |
Humans of Bombay (HoB) is an Indian website founded in 2014 by Karishma Mehta to document inspirational stories of people in Mumbai (previously known as Bombay).
Development
[edit]Inspired by the Humans of New York (HoNY) website, Karishma Mehta started Humans of Bombay in January 2014, by traveling around Mumbai and asking people questions about their lives and for permission to take and upload their photographs and their answers to her website.[1][2][3] By April 2014, the Facebook page had more than 135 posts and almost 40,000 followers.[2] By November 2015, the page had reached 4 lakh followers.[4] According to Poorva Joshi at the Hindustan Times, Humans of Bombay "is different from HONY, where Stanton, at times, shares only a quirky one-liner from his subject" and Mehta is "also more of a documentarian of personal stories than a photographer."[5]
By 2015, Mehta began using the page to conduct fundraising campaigns, including for Kranti, an organization that supports the daughters of sex workers, and collected Rs. 6.5 lakhs for Kranti in one day.[1][4] In 2015, Humans of Bombay featured the story and picture of a girl speaking out against child marriage, that within two days gained over 60,000 likes on Facebook, and created an opportunity for Humans of Bombay to promote Aangan, the child protection organization supporting the girl.[6] A crowdfunding campaign for a child with blood cancer raised Rs 10.31 lakh within days.[7]
By 2016, Mehta moved the blog to humansofbombay.in, and self-published the book Humans of Bombay.[7] By then, the blog had covered a wide range of subjects, from everyday interactions to topics such as depression, alcoholism, domestic violence, child sexual abuse, Sapna Bhavnani discussing her gang-rape, and people sharing their own stories and support for others.[7] Fundraising campaigns continued on the website, including in 2017, raising Rs 11 lakh within four days on behalf of the daughter of a sex worker to support her education at New York University.[8]
By 2018, Humans of Bombay had grown to six permanent employees, expanded beyond Mumbai, and established an Instagram page with what Aishwarya Upadhye of The Hindu described as "Stories that make you grin from ear to ear, stories that would give you pangs of guilt, the ones that would make you well up, those that cement your belief in hope and survival,"[9] and Sadaf Shaikh of Verve described as "all kinds of stories – some that plaster a big grin on your face, others that elicit a quick prayer for having a privileged life."[10]
Details
[edit]The website has featured thousands of people, including Ratan Tata,[11] Narendra Modi,[12][13] Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rajkummar Rao, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Boman Irani, Anupam Kher, Kartik Aaryan,[14] Sunil Chhetri,[15] Milind Soman, Sapna Bhavnani,[5] Kajol and Ajay Devgan,[16] and Devika Rotawan.[17] Topics include acid attacks, sex workers, domestic violence and inter-caste love stories. Humans of Bombay published a first-hand account of a Jamia student talking about the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAA) and the Jamia attack.[18] In 2021, a post by actress Sanjana Sanghi was removed after protests on social media over the content of her post featuring domestic workers.[19]
Copyright infringement lawsuit
[edit]In September 2023, Humans of Bombay began a copyright infringement case, seeking an injunction against the People of India website, and a summons was issued by the Delhi High Court in Humans of Bombay Stories Pvt Ltd v. POI Social Media Pvt Ltd[20] in which the court stated, "Prima facie there is substantial imitation and in fact, in some cases, the photographs/images are identical or imitative."[21][22]
In October 2023, after an agreement between the parties,[23] the Delhi High Court ruled each website will "refrain" from using the copyrighted work of the other website.[24] Monetary damages were not awarded to either party, and the court said if an image is sent to both websites, the image cannot be copyrighted by either website.[25] With regard to storytelling platforms generally, the court also ruled, "Ideas cannot be copyrighted, the way they are expressed can be subject to law."[23]
After the lawsuit was filed, Mehta was targeted by widespread cybertrolling.[26][27][28] Brandon Stanton, the founder of Humans of New York, was among critics on social media of how Humans of Bombay conducts its business, and Humans of Bombay responded to Stanton on social media.[13][28][29][30] After the Delhi High Court ruling, Mehta published a statement on Instagram about the legal case, including, "While we did not expect to be vilified to this extent, it will not deter us from continuing to tell important stories that change the narrative, and sometimes, even change lives."[27][24]
Publications
[edit]- Mehta, Karishma (2017). Humans of Bombay. ISBN 9788179918951.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 Pandey, Vikas (7 September 2015). "Facebook storytellers of India". BBC News. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
- 1 2 Lakhe, Amruta (22 April 2014). "Being the humans of Bombay". The Indian Express. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ↑ Jain, Sanya (25 November 2021). "She Was Just 21 When She Started 'Humans Of Bombay'. Here's Her Story". NDTV. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
- 1 2 Singh, Tanaya (26 November 2015). "Meet the Human Behind the Popular 'Humans of Bombay' Page". The Better India. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- 1 2 Joshi, Poorva (6 May 2026). "Meet Karishma Mehta, the woman behind Humans of Bombay". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
- ↑ Lakshmin, Deepa (14 August 2015). "Her Parents Tried To Marry Her Off At 15, And She Said No. This Is Her Story". MTV. Archived from the original on 16 August 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- 1 2 3 Lakhe, Amruta (14 April 2016). "From the heart, through a lens". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ↑ "How Humans of Bombay is helping a sex worker's daughter study at New York University". FirstPost. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ↑ Upadhye, Aishwarya (19 April 2018). "When the Humans of Bombay came to Chennai". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ↑ Shaikh, Sadaf (11 January 2018). "Karishma Mehta On How Humans Of Bombay Captures The Invincible Spirit Of The City". Verve. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ↑ Kumar, Ravi Prakash (13 February 2020). "Ratan Tata at his candid best: Talks about his break-up, childhood, parents". Livemint. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ↑ "I spent five days in a jungle during Diwali every year to reflect on life, says Narendra Modi". Scroll.in. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
- 1 2 Sebastian, Meryl (26 September 2023). "Humans of New York's Brandon Stanton wades into India copyright row". BBC News. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
- ↑ Datta, Devlina (24 December 2019). "10 Best Tell-All Tales Ft. B-Town Celebs On 'Humans Of Bombay' In 2019 That Are Worth Re-Reading". MensXP.com. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ↑ "Sunil Chhetri gets candid about his love affair with his coach's daughter". The Week. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ↑ "On Ajay Devgn and Kajol's 21st anniversary, check out their 10 best, most romantic pics". Hindustan Times. 23 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ↑ "'Devika Rotawan was 9–year-old when she identified Kasab' - Uddhav Thackeray urged to allot a house to girl". TimesNowNews. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- ↑ Magan, Srishti (17 December 2019). "Didn't Have Any Shred Of Humanity Left: Jamia Student Opens Up About Violence After CAA Protest". www.scoopwhoop.com. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ↑ "Sanjana Sanghi's Humans of Bombay post deleted after backlash". The Indian Express. 16 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
- ↑ Jha, Prashant (20 September 2023). "Delhi High Court issues summons to People of India in copyright infringement suit by 'Humans of Bombay'". Bar and Bench. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
- ↑ Sunilkumar, Singh Rahul (24 September 2023). "'Related to IP, not storytelling': Humans of Bombay clarifies on copyright lawsuit". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
- ↑ Khan, Khadija (26 September 2023). "Humans of Bombay vs People of India: What is copyright infringement and when does it apply?". The Indian Express. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
- 1 2 Thyagarajan, S.N. (11 October 2023). "Humans of Bombay vs People of India: No monopoly in running storytelling platforms, says Delhi HC". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
- 1 2 "Humans of Bombay founder, CEO Karishma Mehta addresses controversy after Delhi High Court ruling". The Indian Express. 13 October 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
- ↑ Venugopal, Sahana (26 October 2023). "What 'Humans of Bombay' vs 'People of India' reveals about copyright violations on Meta's Instagram". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
- ↑ ""Received Death, Rape Threats": Humans Of Bombay CEO Amid Plagiarism Row". NDTV.com. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- 1 2 Rahaman Sarkar, Alisha (12 October 2023). "'Didn't expect to be vilified to this extent': Humans of Bombay founder speaks up days after online trolling". The Independent. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
- 1 2 "Humans of Bombay's climbdown after backlash over reaction to Humans of New York". India Today. 25 September 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ↑ "'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'". The Economic Times. 27 September 2023. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ↑ Timsit, Annabelle; Masih, Niha (26 September 2023). "Humans of Bombay is suing another spinoff. Humans of New York isn't happy". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 January 2024.