Using content creation as a tool to decolonise Indian minds

Abhiraj and Niyati, aka Abhi and Niyu, one of the most viral content creators, represented India at the COP27 in Egypt. In an exclusive chat with The Pioneer, the duo gets candid about their journey, working towards different social campaigns, and the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) of the UNFCCC.

Tejal Sinha

There have been different ways through which people have worked towards making the nation a better place. Over time, social media has become a very powerful tool. While many NGOs and government organisations collaborate to address various social issues, there’s Abhiraj and Niyati, aka Abhi and Niyu, the content creator duo who use their content to decolonise Indian minds and make a better India.

Before the duo got together and made content, content creation initially began for Abhiraj in 2017, after he realised he was spending a lot of time translating his client’s vision into a concrete product. He wanted to spend time sharing his own voice, and he wanted to talk about India. The initial idea was to travel across India and talk to people, then make short documentary-style videos with edited excerpts from these conversations. That’s how “Following Love” started in 2017. Later, in 2018, when they got married, Niyati also joined Abhiraj in front of the camera.

Today, in just a span of over 4 years, they have over 2.7 million followers on Instagram and over 3.25 million subscribers on YouTube. They have come across several series that have helped people connect with India more closely over time; one of them being “100 Reasons to Love India.” This series marked the time when they dove into content creation full-time without having a backup plan as such.

Sharing more about the series Niyati said, “We noticed that social media feeds had become increasingly negative. Everyone only spoke about the problems in the country. We felt we Indians needed to know more about our own country, culture, and traditions. We must be proud of those who have worked tirelessly to solve people’s problems. We wanted to showcase the positive aspects of India that existed apart from the negativity online. The motive was never to find the top 100 reasons to love India; that would not have been possible. But it was to conclude the discussion with the numerous reasons we had not discussed. It was to take people on a journey with us and end with them feeling pride for their country and giving them a glimpse of everything.”

Similarly, they had recently also released a video on YouTube and discussed the incredible solution to blood cancer on National Cancer Awareness Day, and over 40,000 people had signed up within 2 months of the video release.

Talking about the challenges, Niyati said, “The first challenge is sceptical people. People do not want to believe that India can do anything good or fix its problems. That India had a rich past, we have been trained to look down on anything that is Indian. So when we made videos, we had many people who repeatedly told us that we needed to focus on the problems. And because India had so many issues, it could just not have any good elements in it. There are still people who refuse to believe there can be anything good about the country. There are many people who have given up and refused to think that the problems in the country can be solved. But that cynicism doesn’t actually help the country. The other challenge is that even when we give solutions, people are sceptical and keep saying they won’t work. But whenever there is a problem, it can only be fixed if all of us start talking about solutions.”

With their continuous positive work towards society, they have become the only group of Indian content creators to represent India at COP27 in Egypt and act as a bridge between Indians and the global climate conference. In fact, they’re the only duo that has been invited from all over Asia to attend the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Talking about how COP27 had happened, Niyati went on to say, “We had a friend reach out to us and say that he knew an organisation that wanted to take people to cover COP27. We frequently talk about environmental issues and thought this would be a good platform to talk to world leaders, startups, NGOs, and other organisations that are trying to make a difference. We shared our work links, and after a few weeks, we heard back saying we were accepted and we would be going to Sharm El Sheikh for COP27. It was also important for us to be there because we represent the new age of internet media from India. People who watch our videos consider us a credible information source. Although our content is targeted toward the Indian masses, being recognised by an international organisation is really exciting.”