The dream that started on a train

It’s the late 80s. Kamal is studying computer science at Karnataka University, a 40-hour train journey from Dehradun. While his friends are dreaming of tech jobs in the US, Kamal’s mind is somewhere else. “Dehradun has great schools, but why no engineering colleges? Why do kids have to go out?” he wonders. In 1993, he returns to Dehradun and tells his middle-class parents, “I will not do a job, I will start something of my own.” No one in his family was doing business, so his parents were shocked. Still, Kamal’s passion and persistence convince them.

With just ₹29,000, he starts the Graphic Era Computer Centre in his house. There is no office, no phone, no car—just his father’s scooter, on which he goes out to find students. It is 1993, when there was no internet, no Windows 98, and most people in Dehradun considered computers to be strange machines. Still, Kamal starts teaching new things like C, C++. Soon, bank clerks, working professionals start coming to him. Some reach for the class at 5 am, so that they can study before their day job. Kamal works hard from morning till 9 pm—moving chairs upstairs to make classrooms, then downstairs for the computer centre. Kamal is another name for hard work.

 

From hard work to empire

Banks were not ready to give loans. The bigwigs talked about partnership, but Kamal was not willing to sell his dream. So, he borrowed from private moneylenders, where he had to pay ₹500 interest every day, on a loan of ₹45,000. Risky? Absolutely. But it worked. Within a few months, Graphic Era takes over Dehradun. By 1995, he conducts training for ONGC and banks, develops software for the police, and even donates a computer after seeing their control room. His biggest victory? Digitalising the result system of H.N.B. Garhwal University. Earlier this university was lagging behind in releasing results, after Kamal it came to the forefront—and also got a reward of ₹1 crore from the government. He did the same thing for Kumaon University.

In 1998, after battling a lot of government files and bureaucrats in Lucknow, Kamal starts Graphic Era Institute of Technology, which brings BSc and BCom IT courses to Uttarakhand for the first time. By 2008, it becomes a deemed university. In 2011, he starts Graphic Era University, with campuses in Dehradun and Bhimtal. Fees are 25% lower, so that children of soldiers and farmers can study. The Bhimtal campus? It was a ₹200 crore gamble that gave the hill kids a chance. Today, graduates from there are landing jobs at Infosys, TCS, and Amazon, some with packages of up to ₹25 lakh. Graphic Era is now 75th in India for engineering, ahead of all but one IIT in Uttarakhand. And Kamal? He’s now building a medical college and hospital in Dehradun. Where does he stop!

Net worth: How much did he earn?

Now the question is—what is Kamal’s net worth? No one knows the exact figure, as Kamal does not boast about his wealth. But he is one of the richest men in Dehradun, running the Graphic Era Group, which has four campuses and two universities. His other companies, such as V.S. Infotech Private Limited and Graphic Era Global School, have a net worth of over ₹60 lakh, and that’s just the beginning. Graphic Era is a gold mine in the education world, and it is estimated that his net worth could be anywhere between ₹83 crore and ₹166 crore. But Kamal’s real wealth? It is the lives of thousands of children who have risen from small villages to big jobs because of his schools. This is the treasure he boasts about.

A simple life

With so much money, life must be so wonderful, right? Well, quite the opposite. Kamal is still the same person who used to ride around on his father’s scooter. He lives in Dehradun, teaches, does research, and keeps his life simple. He invested ₹200 crore in Bhimtal to give hill children a chance to study when no one else was willing to go there. He donated computers to the police, reduced fees for poor children, and is now building a hospital to save lives. No luxury cars or bungalows—just a man who believes in making dreams come true. His life shines with purpose, not money.

Lessons for dreams

Kamal’s story also has some lessons. He says, difficulties make you special. Take small steps, don’t hand over your dreams to anyone else, and ignore those who speak ill of you—if people are talking about you, you are on the right path. He likes a poem by Santosh Pradhan: “Mujhe chalna aata hai, har aag se vaaqif hun, jalna aur lautna kanta hun.” That is, no matter how difficult it is, just keep going.

Last thing

Kamal Ghanshala’s journey shows that if you have a dream and hard work, then nothing is impossible. Starting from ₹29,000 with a scooter, from ₹83 crore to ₹166 crore