Humiliation for a small job to creating the global presence of Oberoi hotels.
A boy from Punjab named Mohan Singh Oberoi, during his schooling, understood learning English could give him a good opportunity to succeed. He started learning English from an early age. By the age of 16, he wanted to work as a clerk in a hotel so that he could help his family to live a happy life. But due to his appearance and poverty, even the gatekeeper did not allow him to enter the hotel. Mohan felt rejected and humiliated. One fine day, he went to Shimla as there were British officers having a meeting. During that time, Shimla was the capital of the British for the summer seasons. He luckily met and spoke in English, asking the Cecil hotel owner regarding hotel management. The Cecil hotel owner got impressed due to his English-speaking skills and gave him an opportunity to collaborate. The place where he was not allowed to enter the hotel premises, he was working as desk work while explaining the hotel and dealing with British guests.
Mohan was always enthusiastic and eager to learn skills. Eventually, he mastered the art of speaking to people, observing the hotel food and hotel industry. The Cecil hotel became one of the prominent hotels and established a huge reputation. The hotel owner, Clark, wanted to sell the hotel and wanted to leave back to the British.
Mohan realised his good days had completely vanished. He had no money to buy the entire hotel and he had no time. He went back to his village, borrowed a huge amount of debt and bought the Cecil hotel and became the owner.
From working as a clerk to buying the entire hotel where he became the owner. After owning the hotel, Mohan relentlessly worked hard and made the hotel customer's rate increase by 80% more than before.
From there he started getting opportunities. From Kolkata to Mumbai, he established one of the best hotel chain industries. He targeted the hotels which were being shut down or which had lost their business. He established and gave hotels mostly to the Britishers who were coming from war and created spaces of living for people to stay in.
Finally, he started his Oberoi name brand for all his hotel markets. Today Oberoi hotels have 32 branches across India and with a net worth of 2.5 billion dollars as of 2026.
Things to learn from Mohan Singh Oberoi
1.Learning skills can change the future of any individual.
2.Ups and downs ability to take risks in life can build empires.
3.Discipline and consistency towards work brings you opportunities.
4.Hard work and utilising the right opportunities.
5.Leaving his comfort zone to expand into the biggest hotels across India.
