The year 2020 has come with lots and lots of challenges. While the year has been full of sad and tragic news from the COVID-19 to job layoffs happening around the world, there has been something that has kept our faith in humanity alive.
The internet has been full of people stories of how people came forward to help one another in these testing times. Many people have been taking small but valuable steps to ensure that the people around them have all the help they need to cope with this difficult year.
A Twitter user, Mehak Chawla, posted her heartfelt story of how her maid inspired to become an internet star with a smartphone she had gifted her 4 years back. Mehak shared the story with a Twitter thread and it’s the sweetest thing one can come across on the internet.
Mehak’s maid has been watching YouTube tutorials on how to create content online and making Snapchat videos of herself. She learned how to use the different features in those apps like a voiceover from YT too. She has been shooting these videos in her spare time with the help of her husband and has been posting them on the platform.
When asked, she said that her ultimate goal is to make money off the internet and help her community navigate it.
About 4 years ago, I gave some money to my daily help to buy her first ever smartphone. And today, something wonderful happened. A thread…
— Mehak Chawla (@Mee_Hak) November 19, 2020
My help, who usually comes at 7.30 or so in the morning, today asked a very groggy me, if I watch videos on my phone. I said of course. She then asks do I create videos: I say yes, thinking she might need help creating one.
— Mehak Chawla (@Mee_Hak) November 19, 2020
The very next moment, she drops whatever she is doing, and runs to get her phone. The next thing I know, I’m looking at her “snap videos”! She is all decked up, and singing and dancing to popular Hindi and Bengali numbers. She is also doing funny voiceovers…
— Mehak Chawla (@Mee_Hak) November 19, 2020
I asked her when does she find the time and she says the light is perfect around 5pm, so she dresses up everyday and goes to the terrace of the building where she shares a small room with her husband and 2 kids…and she makes videos (and posts them under an assumed name)!
— Mehak Chawla (@Mee_Hak) November 19, 2020
Her husband, she says proudly, is her cameraman! Intrigued, I ask her where did she learn about all this: and something even more powerful comes out. She has a WhatsApp group with other Bengali helps and a teenage girl in that group became quite famous on TikTok…
— Mehak Chawla (@Mee_Hak) November 19, 2020
This teenage girl, it turns out, even made money from the platform. And that’s what led to my help take to a platform like Snapchat (since TikTok is banned in India) and aspire, to someday make money from it…
— Mehak Chawla (@Mee_Hak) November 19, 2020
So she puts in the effort, every single day. She shares tips on her WhatsApp group, watches YT videos about creating short videos, and well, though she doesn’t know it: she also takes full advantage of the golden hour!
— Mehak Chawla (@Mee_Hak) November 19, 2020
And she’s getting popular! She says her first video got some 30 “hearts” but now she gets nearly 200 on every video. She even told me “didi you should also make videos”!
— Mehak Chawla (@Mee_Hak) November 19, 2020
@rajatagr laughed and said, our help is asking you for a collab!
— Mehak Chawla (@Mee_Hak) November 19, 2020
And I smiled and remembered the day when I taught my help the basics of using a touchscreen a few years back. I kept thinking about this incident the entire day…
— Mehak Chawla (@Mee_Hak) November 19, 2020
If this is not the “digital revolution”, I dunno what is! And today I believe more than ever, that it has the potential to be a great equaliser.
— Mehak Chawla (@Mee_Hak) November 19, 2020
Mehak’s post since went viral and people have been appreciating her support and her maids courage for daring to dream big and even working hard to achieve it. People have also been applauding the digital platforms that have been help people to earn a living and even gain popularity on the way.
This is a beautiful story
— Dr Nandita Iyer (@saffrontrail) November 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/Surya_246/status/1329652840642486272
Beautiful Mehak, mobile phone will give them reason to learn new things including writing
👍♥️👍— Prabhat Goel Modi Ka Parivar ❤️ (@PrabhatGoel2) November 21, 2020
If there's any equaliser that this country is going to have, it's the internet and it's literacy amongst the poor.
— poetofgrindset (@poetofgrindset) November 19, 2020
So many learnings about wonderful joys of life through small efforts and resources 😊
— Roshan (@roshantodi) November 20, 2020
And there will be a day when books will be downloaded and courses will be finished in blue collar segment also
This movement should not be limited to dance songs videos only but everyone should grab the opportunities beyond tangible limitations.AMEN— DRSunanda Mitra (@sunandamitra) November 20, 2020
Also Read: Woman Gets A Hilarious Revert From Bridal Shop She Had Sent An Angry Customer Review to
What Mehak has done is applaudable but her maid has become an icon for people who wish to achieve something in their lives.
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