How ordinary lives of drivers, delivery boys became a hit

Viral videos of people mistreating and even abusing the gig and domestic workers are everywhere these days — from security guards to delivery riders, being treated poorly has become part and parcel of the job for many. What goes unseen, says delivery rider MS Rahul, is the hard work and dedication that his job requires. Sick of being invisible, he started a YouTube channel almost two years ago. He vlogs about his job, showing people the reality of being a delivery person, from the silly arguments about one-time passwords (OTPs) to the often meagre earnings he receives. “I wanted to show the people what the job is actually like. Many think of it as a ‘lowly’ job, but after seeing my videos, people tell me that now they respect delivery boys,” says the 23-year-old living in Chennai.Rahul is part of a growing tribe of blue-collar workers who are putting their working lives out there for all to see. Vlogs on YouTube have long been the domain of dewy-skinned, perfectly dressed influencers, tech bros waxing ineloquent about crypto and foul-mouthed gamers. But as digital penetration has only increased in the country, we get access to seeing the ins and outs of many different kinds of lives, from truck drivers to domestic workers. medium95204530All over the world, gig and blue-collar workers, from driveway cleaners to factory workers, have been documenting their every day. It may sound mundane, but there is something fascinating about observing the lives of others, particularly those who have gone unrepresented in mainstream entertainment and culture. Take 25-year-old vegetable seller Chandra Prakash Patel, whose channel Chandu the Villager has accumulated 36 lakh views till date. “Farmers and vegetable sellers work so hard, but people haggle with us for two-three rupees. I wanted people to see the reality of how much a vegetable seller really earns,” says the resident of Chhattisgarh’s Takhatpur village.His videos take you through a day in his life — waking up in the morning, packing up his vegetables, transporting them to the nearby mandi, where he waits for customers to arrive. From the excitement over ‘bohni’ (first sale of the day) to trudging back home in the darkness. The finances of the market are a running theme — in one video, he takes Rs 3,800 worth of veggies to the mandi, having sold most of them for Rs 5,500. medium95204620“People in the comments tell me, ‘you work so hard all day but you make such little profit. How are you satisfied?’ I want to inspire people to work hard, irrespective of money,” he says. If Patel sells his vegetables in the mandi every day, on average, he makes Rs 10-15,000 a month.Rahul sees his videos as a form of entertainment to offset the “pain that is part of the job”. “I wanted to work in cinema but didn’t get the chance to, so this is how I entertain people,” he says, adding that he has recently monetised his channel too. His parents, who urge him to get a government job, do not know about his YouTube channel. “They think all this YouTube is useless,” he says.Watch: Rahul's video 'Working on Diwali: https://ip.tgsession.com/3sw663_1rkmuflfzqrun/5prkysza?1eqt=7ytwLOf8VEg9ieHnpvrz Panna’s vlogs about his life as a courier rider have given him a sense of confidence, he says. “I would watch YouTube videos and I also wanted to make them. Someone suggested that I just shoot and upload what I do every day. I’ve learnt to talk better — when I talk to people for my delivery job, I don’t get scared anymore. I used to be very scared to ask them questions earlier, but now that fear has gone,” says the 25-year-old who only recently had to quit his delivery job after his father passed away.“The people in my life made fun of me for my videos. They would ask what the point of it is and who would want to watch it,” he says. It was the first time he made a delivery to someone who had watched his content that he began to feel more confident in what he was doing. “People have so many questions about my life — how much do you learn, where do you live, what is your day like?” He also shows his earnings in his videos — which tended to be between Rs 10,000-20,000 post-lockdown. The festive season, he adds, is a good time, with him making up to Rs 55,000 a month.Another popular YouTuber is R Rajesh, a truck driver with upwards of 4 lakh subscribers and videos with over a million views. Rajesh’s videos offer an unfiltered glance into all parts of the country, as he makes his way through it.A recent video uploaded on R Rajesh Vlogs: https://ip.tgsession.com/3sw663_1rkmuflfzqrun/5prkysza?1eqt=7yt2-IGnMbvznEBdwvmj the average travel vlogger who offers an outsider’s perspective, with a tendency to other, his approach is refreshing. His channel offers everything from a conversation with a tea seller whose claim to fame is a small role in Mera Naam Joker to watching him cook delectable looking chicken curry inside his truck, from peeling vegetables with a steel glass to carefully driving in the rain on what can charitably be called a dirt road. His videos have attracted a steady audience that, based on YouTube comments, appreciate his down-to-earth nature and the newness of what his content offers.For gig workers with already precarious work lives, these videos, which give a sense of how much they earn and how they’re treated, can raise eyebrows among the companies they work for. Panna says the higher-ups at the courier company he worked with weren’t too happy with his content. “They had a meeting about this and told me not to make videos anymore. But thankfully my senior in the company talked to them and explained that I was doing nothing wrong. I was just told not to make any videos in the office,” he adds.Many of their viewers are urban and educated, these YouTubers say. Veggie seller Patel says that most of the comments he gets are in English. “People are appreciative and are encouraging my work. The people around me don’t really watch — the village people are already living my lifestyle. They’re more interested in seeing the city lifestyle. But city people want to see what a village market is like, how people behave, what the prices are, that’s why they’re interested,” he says.A video uploaded by vegetable seller Chandu: medium nocaptionhttps://ip.tgsession.com/3sw663_1rkmuflfzqrun/5prkysza?1eqt=9nqzucpjxBMndWKqhlhjrc Carousel 94120966