7 Years Ago I Took My First Flight In Life and I Regret it..
January 2nd, 2019. 6:05 AM: Mumbai to Delhi.
My first time on a plane. A blurry, overexposed photo of someone who had no idea what he was doing.
I had just left India's top MNC. Turned down an offer from a leading global bank. Left my family in Mumbai.
All to join a startup where my first question was: "Are we funded? How do we make money?"
My family didn't even know what YouTube was.
I joined @TechWiser as a writer.
Not a video person. A writer.
I had absconded from my IT job, so no experience letter.
Mrinal Saha's response? "What will I do with an IT experience letter? No worries."
No credentials. Just trust.
And this 7 years journey hasn't been rosy gold. A year after I joined TechWiser, in 2020, COVID hit.
I was Stuck at home. Slow growth for 3 years. But, there again I took that flight back to Delhi, made videos and until one pitch changed everything: "Android guy tries iPhone for the first time."
It's many of the banger videos we have done at TechWiser. But it was the first video where from idea-excution, it was all ME.
7 years later:
250K subscribers β 2.5 Million Regular Writer β Video Producer
30 Million monthly traffic
Working on 3 sleeper channels. Will talk about it later.
But, an IT guy coding by day to shooting content by night. I regret it because...
I should have taken that flight SOONER.
To everyone choosing between the "safe job" and the "what if" - some people will believe in you before you believe in yourself.
Thank you, @TheMrinalSaha, for trusting a guy with no experience letter and a blurry photo to being the face.
Here's to 7 years of chaos, growth, and becoming. ππ
Painkhand (Chamoli)
Nanda kothig ππ
Some things belong to the people, to the society, let them remain like that away from external forces in the Himalayas
The Raulane festival, Himachal.
Locals believe that in winter, when the cold turns unforgiving, celestial fairies called Saunis descend from their heavenly palaces to watch over the villages. They guide, they safeguard, and bring a quiet reassurance the community depends on.
Raulane is celebrated to honour them. Two men are chosen as a symbolic couple, the βbrideβ (Raula) and the βgroomβ (Raulane). They dress in heavy Kinnauri woollens made for the harsh cold. Masks veil their faces, gloves hide their hands, the idea is to transform a human into a ritual figure, an intermediary between the people and the Sauni spirits.
The central moment unfolds at the Nagin Narayan temple. The two enter in full attire, offer prayers, and begin a slow, symbolic dance. Villagers believe this dance opens a channel between humans and the Saunis. Versions of this festival appear across the Himalayan belt, each region adding its own flavour.
5,000 years old civilisation, preserving a culture so enduring, so unbroken, that even time stands in awe of it.