Young content creators are drawing attention to topics that are uniquely Bengalurean.
Their work covers such topics as English teachers in ICSE schools, RCB’s poor performance and the infamous characteristics of some of the city’s reputed educational institutions.
Karen Vincent
Karen Vincent, 22, began creating reels during the pandemic. The Mount Carmel College graduate typically covers her experiences in college and her convent school, Sacred Hearts Girls’ High School. Her current job as a HR professional also provides fodder for her content.
“Initially I was quite insecure. I wasn’t sure if people would accept me and my content. But I put out my first video and I got a great response. People wanted to see more. That encouraged me to continue,” says Karen, whose handle,
@karen.vincent_ has 33,000-plus followers on Instagram.
One of her most popular reels is titled ‘Normal English vs Bangalore English’. She highlights words like ‘siked’, ‘flipping’ and ‘trippy’, which the younger generation uses as slang for angry, scared and funny respectively. The video has over 25 lakh views. Other reels like ‘Every nun at convent school’, ‘Every ICSE English teacher’ and ‘Things you can do in Bangalore’ also capture qualities unique to the city.
Younus Ahmed
With 59,000 followers, @younusahmed_official focuses on the Dakhni language, spoken exclusively in the Deccan region, which covers Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra and Telangana. A graduate of Christ (deemed to be) University, he says his language was looked down on by his friends in college.
“And some from my own community were ashamed to speak the language. However, I decided that it was important to speak in Dakhni and make people fall in love with it,” says the 24-year-old. A loyal RCB fan, his videos see him reviewing matches involving the team in his language. The video ‘Cricket IPL commentary in Bangalore’ featuring the changing accents of different areas of Bengaluru, from Lavelle Road to Girinagar and Shivajinagar, went viral and currently has 47,600 likes and over 3.65 lakh views. But it’s not all fun and games for Ahmed. “I feel good that I can use my platform to help people, spread awareness and support those in need,” says the comedian who is a business analyst by day.
Undercity Podcast
The Instagram page @undercitypodcast is run by eight college students and is actually a podcast on YouTube. ‘The best podcast repping Bangalore youth culture and student life’ reads their bio. The group comprises Jonty, short for Jonathan Mark Walton, Nehal Joseph Rai, Clifford Malcolm, Shahzad Umar, Shimon Mathew Thomas, Kenneth Roy, Mohammad Afsal Cherada and Neil Cherian Alex. They started the podcast as a way to “hang out with each other”. But it grew into something bigger than they expected because people started relating to their content. “It’s just a bunch of friends talking about issues they feel strongly about. Bengalureans who have moved out of the city text us saying they love our videos because it makes them feel they are part of a friends’ group,” explains Jonty. The topics include board exams, a comparison of the iftar street food in Neelasandra and Fraser Town, funny spellings spotted on faluda carts, and a football match they were a part of which inadvertently turned out to be between a Christian and Muslim team. “We sometimes also talk about more serious topics. Once, we discussed our traumatic experiences. It helps people to talk about their own problems,” says Afsal.
Sachin Kumar
Sachin, who goes by the handle
@gommaboy on Instagram, began making videos when he was in Bishop Cottons Boys’ School. “I would send it to my friends. And I got great feedback. I later realised they were just being sarcastic. So I stopped making videos and got into standup comedy,” he says. While stand-up comedy was going well, the pandemic broke and Sachin decided to experiment with videos again. By now he was in his last year of college. He realised he needed to follow a solid format. So he introduced the ‘Gomma tring tring’ videos where he tackled serious topics with a humorous approach. “But then I started waiting for bad things to happen to get some material for my content, which I didn’t like. So I decided to change tack,” he explains. His page now has 15,000 followers. His most popular videos offer funny takes on well- known Bengaluru colleges and schools, from St Joseph’s and Christ to Sophia’s High School.