Mohak Mangal is an Indian YouTuber. He is well known for posting informative videos on a variety of topics such as social and political issues.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Mohak Mangal was born on Saturday, April 1992 (age 31 years; as of 2023) in New Delhi, India. Mohak did his schooling at Delhi Public School (DPS) R. K. Puram, New Delhi. When he was in 11th grade, he underwent IIT coaching from Narayana IIT/NEET Academy in Kalu Sarai, which he quit after a month. He then received his undergraduate degree from the School of Economics at Singapore Management University. His first job was in the field of Development Economics and he worked at J-Pal (James Poverty Action Lab) and did field jobs in rural Bihar for a year. He did his Master’s in International and Development Economics from Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America. He then worked in Myanmar for three years; first, as a Project Manager at the International Growth Centre which is a policy think-tank, and then as a consultant at The World Bank where he was a part of the Education Team. In 2019, he moved back to Singapore, where he worked for AlphaBeta as an associate. After this, he moved to the United States of America where he pursued an MBA from Stanford University, Stanford, California. He has also been running Soch by Mohak Mangal, which is his YouTube channel since August 2018.
Mohak Mangal when he was a child
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 9″
Weight (approx.): 80 kg
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Mohak’s father’s name is Naresh Mangal and his mother’s name is Promila Mangal. Mohak Mangal has a sister named Ishita Mangal who works as a Fashion Designer and Creative Director.
Mohak Mangal with his family
Mohak Mangal with his mother Promila Mangal
Mohak Mangal with his sister Ishita Mangal
Wife
His wife, Shaneez Mohinani is the founder and host of the podcast ‘Down to Zero’ and a Climate Fund Principal at Clocktower Technology Ventures. The two have been together since 2011, attended Singapore Management University and Stanford University together, and got married in November 2019, at a destination wedding in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
Mohak Mangal with his wife Shaneez Mohinani
Religion/Religious Views
Mohak Mangal says that he is not a very religious person. During a YouTube video, he stated that he recited prayers and sits for rituals only upon insistence from his mother or grandmother. He also went on to say that the term ‘agnostic’ (an agnostic person is someone who is not concerned with the existence or non-existence of God) describes his religious inclination the best. He further stated that he became agnostic, especially after reading the computer simulation theory (where people believe that reality is a computer simulation) on which he has also made a video.
Career
YouTube
Mohak Mangal started his YouTube channel named The Soch Project (now, Soch by Mohak Mangal) in 2018 with two of his friends: Ishleen Sethi and Shikhar Swaroop. In the beginning, the format that they followed was to deliver ‘informed content’ through memes or simply put, it was an infotainment channel. The first video, entitled “Fake News over WhatsApp in India, explained” was uploaded on 2 May 2018.
A still from Soch by Mohak Mangal’s first YouTube video ‘Fake News over WhatsApp in India, explained’
The Soch team shifted from the meme format to a purely informative style because Mohak stated that following the meme format was not a sustainable approach. Mohak started his channel as he was frustrated with all the fake news circulating in family WhatsApp groups, which is how he came up with the idea to create a YouTube channel that focuses on sharing well-researched and evidence-backed information. The Soch by Mohak Mangal channel has grown to have 2.67 million subscribers as of 2023 and gets around 40 million views every month. The channel ranked in the top 1% of all channels worldwide. Mohak oversees a team of 13 people, who spend their time coming up with strategies for new business ventures like podcasts and newsletters and finding ways to keep their content innovative and fresh. Mohak also shares videos on YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels (where he has 122k followers as of 2023) and is active on his Twitter (now, X) account.
Mohak Mangal with the golden YouTube Play Button
Podcast
Mohak narrated the Podcast “A2Z with Mohak Mangal”, written by Moksha Tamma. The podcast streams on Audible (which is an Amazon company) on which it has a 5-star rating. Mohak Mangal introduces “A2Z with Mohak Mangal,” an Audible Original that serves as a reference for words that people come across in their daily lives whose meanings they are not certain about. The podcast deals with a wide range of topics including ideologies, religions, historical concepts, and scientific terminology. Through this podcast, Mohak explains the meanings of words from conversations, uncovering their origins, narratives, historical contexts, and significance within our global landscape. The format of the podcast is such, that every episode deals with one letter of the alphabet per episode. For example, the first episode is titled “A for Apartheid”, the second “B for Buddhism” and the podcast ends with “Z for Zionism”.
Mohak Mangal on the poster of the podcast A2Z with Mohak Mangal
Controversies
Comparing Narendra Modi with Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
Mohak Mangal faced backlash for his video entitled “What is wrong with Indian liberals?”. In the video, Mohak talks about the backlash given by ‘liberals’ to right-wing supporters and those who are on PM Narendra Modi’s side. The aim of his video, according to Mohak, is to delve into why some people consider it wrong to have different opinions from them and why it is important for people to have their own space to voice their opinions, which leads to the focus of his video, which is “the problem with some liberals today”. The video was uploaded on 7 March 2023 and talks about the parallel between Pt. Nehru and PM Modi, both of whom have conducted religious ceremonies at focal points in their careers. The video also touches on hatred towards religions, the good deeds done by PM Modi and hypocrisy exhibited by Indian liberals. The video posted has received mixed feedback even within the comment section. There have been discussions on online platforms such as Reddit, where Mohak is criticised for making comparisons that are not alike in any manner. Further, he is criticised for portraying religious relationships in India falsely and was most criticised for comparing the actions of Pt. Nehru took in a personal capacity, with the official decisions made by PM Modi. At the same time, Mohak is praised for making bold statements and explaining what many citizens resonate with.
A thumbnail of the YouTube video ‘What is wrong with Indian liberals’ uploaded by Mohak Mangal on his YouTube channel
Facts/Trivia
- Mohak Mangal describes himself as an introverted and socially awkward child, which only changed once he went to pursue his undergraduate degree in Singapore.
- Mohak Mangal uses and links so many of the digital library JSTOR’s papers in his videos, that they offered him a free subscription.
- In a YouTube video posted on 20 June 2020, Mohak showed that he earned Rs 1,21,000 in 24 months.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn