Freedom 251: How Mohit Goel, a grocer's son, made world's cheapest smartphone

MEERUT: The whole country is today talking about Ringing Bells, Mohit Goel's Rs 251 smartphone. His father Rajesh Goel, though, sitting in his small grocery shop that proclaims its name to be 'Ram ji' on a grey board, doesn't know what the fuss is all about. He says he always knew his son would do something big. Even in Garhipukhta, a small town in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh, not many knew about the Goels or their shop. It's a different story today. They are suddenly all that everyone here is discussing.

Goel Sir, who is now also one of the directors of the company, said, "After completing his schooling, Mohit went to Noida and completed his graduation from Amity University. The last time that he was home to meet us, he had expressed his desire to open a company and I loaned him some money to start what he wanted to. Then he started a mobile phone company and told us about his venture. Little did we know what it meant then. It's really big, is it? We also attended the event where Freedom 251 mobile was launched in New Delhi."

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Mohit, who is the managing director of Ringing Bells, has lived with his father at Garhipukhta most of his life, often helping around in the grocery shop. On Thursday, Ringing Bells launched Freedom 251, the mobile phone, in a glitzy event in New Delhi that was attended by several dignitaries, including senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi. A few residents from Shamli were also invited to the launch.

After completing his schooling from Saint RC Convent School, Mohit earned his engineering degree from Amity University. He recently married Dhaarna, a Noida resident, who is now CEO of Ringing Bells.