Narrow lanes, marginal landholdings, small farms, unplanned construction, banyan trees where the elderly gather and scattered houses - Tulsi is like any other remote village of India. However, it is also unlike any other village in India.
Nestled in central India, about 45 km from Raipur in the landlocked state of Chhattisgarh, Tulsi has earned itself the nickname of India’s YouTube Capital and for all the right reasons. Also known as the Instagram Village of India, social media is slowly and significantly making a difference at grassroots level in Tulsi.
It all started a little under a decade ago, when in 2016 Jai Verma and Gyanendra Shukla together conceived the idea of a YouTube Channel ‘Being Chhattisgarhiya’.
Verma, a former coaching academy teacher and Shukla, an engineer at SBI, dived into the world of YouTube for pretty much the usual reasons — looking for a creative outlet, just as an experiment.
Initially making videos in Hindi, the duo later switched to the local language of the region, Chhattisgarhi. The rest is the proverbial history and today the channel boasts of over 127k subscribers.
As their YouTube channel becomes a case study in the transformative power of social media, invites for the duo pour in regularly. One of the recent invitations was to a conference at the Google office in Delhi in the presence of Sundar Pichai.
How it started?
However, the real success of the two cannot be quantified in terms of mere large number of views or subscribers or other clichéd barometers usually reserved to assess social media success. As their reach expanded, so did their influence over the region and today their true impact lies in what Tulsi has become — a village that boasts of 35-40 active YouTube channels, apart from active content creators on equally lucrative platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Fresh content gets uploaded every week and in the process, locals are now well-versed with the mediums and collaborate on shooting, editing, production and even ideating.
Those assisting these full-time creators are professionals who have learnt the skill set required for videography, video editing and turned the opportunity around into a source of income. As for Verma and Shukla, they also teach the advanced and finer art of capitalising content by using the right hashtags, titles, and understanding the algorithm.
Local talent, global reach and a thriving industry
Reportedly almost 25% of the village’s 4,000 strong population is into creating and assisting digital content in some form or the other. An estimate further demonstrated by myriad bloggers who have travelled to the village. It is not uncommon to come across a set-up or tripods and cameras with people in different nooks and corners creating content. Somewhere a young dancer choreographs to the tune of a latest trending single, elsewhere a group of college students perform a short skit.
Also read: Could your next prescription be a ticket to an art museum?
Nimga Chhattisgadhiya, with a YouTube subscriber base of around 10k, serves relatable comedy in the local language. Most of the videos are shot in the village with rural, real backdrops and devoid of the manicured feeds of city-based influencers.
In their interviews, the founder duo of ‘Being Chhattisgarhiya’ have also credited the people in the village for the surge in good content - most of whom have their basics in acting in place, courtesy Ramleela, a generational cultural affair where people enthusiastically perform every year.
The influencers, but of a far-reaching kind
Currently, influencers from the village have all picked up the subjects aligning with their comfort zone, interest or forte. From village life, comedy, cultural perspectives to education and social awareness, almost all the areas of content find themselves being addressed by close to 2,000 digital creators.
Recognising the unique cultural contribution by the people of the area and the creative potential it holds, in 2023 the Raipur district administration announced a studio costing Rs 25 lakh for the village.
Impressed and astonished by the progressive thinking of locals, Raipur collector Sarveshwar Bhure recognised the potential and the need for a professional studio. “I was surprised and impressed to see the number of YouTubers in the village. I realised their capacity could be enhanced exponentially with the availability of a little professional help and governmental push and hence the idea of a studio was born,” he says when asked about the initiative.
While the money brought about by YouTube viewership and subscriptions has upped the financial status of the people and contributed to the local economy, its real contributions go far beyond the moolah. The platform is responsible for driving equality, giving exposure and bringing about positive social change. There are a few things as democratic as social media which has trickled down to every nook and corner of the world. Tulsi is a positive example of the same.
Follow us
