Anantapur: Over the last couple of decades, social media has become a crucial part of the everyday lives of the 'millenials' and the 'GenZs' alike. Meanwhile, Generation X -- comprising the comparatively older part of the population -- face their own struggles while getting au courant with this new basic necessity of 21st-century humans. And yet, there are exceptions who manage to take social media by storm -- for rather unconventional reasons.
With the internet full of influencers giving all sorts of advice on anything and everything, a woman from a small town in Andhra Pradesh has become the 'grandma influencer', lovingly embraced by over 30 lakh users on YouTube. Chinnu aunty or grandma, as she is known by her followers, is a rather popular name on the internet.
Vijaya Lakshmi, a native of Anantpur town, has advice on everything traditional -- from cooking homely and healthy meals, to taking good care of a household, or even children, puppies, and the plants in your garden. Her life lessons and a daily dose of thoughts and values offer her subscribers an almost motherly insight into the hows and whys of the world.
In conversation with ETV Bharat, Chinnu aunty told how being popular through something like YouTube was unimaginable for a homemaker like her. "I never even had access to a television in my childhood. Later too, I never found the time to get interested in anything of the sort as I always kept busy taking care of my family," she said.
Vijaya Lakshmi had a family of four before her husband passed away in 2018. Her two children -- Raghu Vinod and Maunica -- also got busy with their jobs as they grew up, and their mother who always had her hands full suddenly had nowhere to direct her energy and focus. "Ever since my children got jobs, I used to watch cooking and other videos on YouTube. I had even opened my own channel back in 2015 with my daughter's help, but barely used it," said Chinnu aunty.
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"But over time, I started posting my amateur videos there, though they were just for myself and had no audience whatsoever. As I started gaining some views, my daughter encouraged me to do more of it. She would edit and caption the videos. That's when I started gaining some audience. And it kept me busy after my husband's death," she added. But Chinnu aunty did not stop there; courtesy of her ever-encouraging daughter Maunica, who further pushed her to go on screen and impart life advice.
"I was reluctant of going on screen first. I did it anyway. I thought of all the young people on the internet who can use an elder to teach them family values and love. The idea blew up -- I gained thousands of followers within a matter of weeks," she said.
What kept the graph of her audience growing was not just the kind of content she was creating -- which is quite rare to find in the digital world -- but also the genuineness behind it. "I did not do it for followers. Neither did I expect to engage so many people. But I started getting very heartwarming messages from people, calling me aunty, grandma, and even mother. It felt like a wholesome achievement. Now when I go out on the streets, people recognize me there too. Some have even asked for selfies," the woman in her 50s said with a shy chuckle.
Chinnu aunty's journey however had its own setbacks too. "There were people who criticized me for this. They asked what was the necessity of doing all this at this age, and suggested I stay home and rest. I was a bit discouraged," she said. But her children and relatives came to the rescue. "Nobody can take your pain out of you, you have to do it yourself, in your own ways, they had told me. And they were right. I continued doing what I did for my happiness," she said.
Chinnu6542, Chinnu aunty's channel on YouTube, has over 32 lakhs subscribers today and over 260 crore views. With over 400 videos posted on her channel, Chinnu aunty gets paid for her content now. "My husband used to donate to charity a lot. I am following his footsteps," she said, adding that most of her earnings go into financial support to orphanages, old age homes, and schools for the blind.
As a message to other women like herself, Chinnu aunty says age is just a number and technology is a blessing in disguise for the X-generation folks.
