Ringing Bells Private Limited has attracted the attention of the entire world for offering what, at Rs. 251, must be the cheapest smartphone. What has escaped the attention of most people in all the excitement that the news generated is the largely humble background of the company’s founder Mohit Goel.

Mr. Goel used to sit in his father’s small grocery shop in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh till a few years ago. The grocery shop in Garhipukhta area has also become the topic of discussion in Shamli since the advertisements about what is now popularly called the “Freedom 251” phone began to come out.

“The phone was launched on Thursday at a very big function in Delhi. Frankly, I did not for a moment think that the mobile company, which Mohit told us about few months ago, would be so big,” the proud father Rajesh Goel told The Hindu on the phone from Shamli.

“He is very grounded and hardworking. When I realised the importance of the phone he has come up with, I was not surprised because he is very passionate about what he does.” He called his son’s success story one of the most “remarkable” in recent history in a region that is generally in the news for communal riots and crime.

The proud father said that he himself gave some money to his son for his startup.

“He used to tell us that he wanted to start his own company around the idea of an affordable smart phone. In order to encourage him, I gave him some money and now I am also the director of the company,” he said. “You don’t have to go to IIT to come up with innovative ideas.” Mr. Mohit, he said, did his engineering from Amity in Noida.