If you’ve doom-scrolled through any social media app in the past year, you must have come across a few Delhi residents who have gone viral for one reason or another. Maybe it was because they were bindass dancers in public or maybe they started an unconventional business venture. Some have become social media sensations overnight thanks to their viral videos. They have received equal amounts of fame and flak from the masses, but will they be able to sustain it? On Social Media Day (June 30), we bring you the latest updates on NCR residents who have gone viral in the past year.
10-year-old boy from Tilak Nagar: My video reunited me with my mother
Jaspreet SinghThe 10-year-old Singh made headlines across the country in May this year when he was spotted running his late father’s roll stall in Tilak Nagar. The video, filmed by food influencer @mrsinghfoodhunter, garnered 10.7 million views at the time. “My video went viral, and I was able to reunite with my estranged mother in February,” says Singh, who still runs the stall in Delhi but stays with his uncle (chacha). His cousin Gurmukh Singh, who helped Jaspreet and her sister manage their business at the time, has now moved to Punjab and says, “I started my own stall in Amritsar. Now I’m focused on my dream of passing the exam to become a government railway officer… I left Delhi because the stall brought me money, recognition and support from the masses. But then other things changed too. Jaspreet’s chacha took the lead.”
Michael Jackson from Sarojini Nagar: My reel got me the deal
Pankaj Rawat With 4.3 million followers on Instagram, Prankster Panku aka was a Ghaziabad-based social media influencer who rose to fame by dancing in crowded markets and uploading videos on social media. One of his reels, shot at Sarojini Nagar market, garnered 1.7 million views at the time. “My reels got me deals! I’m no longer recognised, mocked and trolled like before. It’s definitely my livelihood…Earlier, I used to post whatever I thought would do well to grab public attention, but now I have the luxury of being selective about what I upload. I still dance in markets for fun, but now I post a lot of other content too, like shopping challenges that I record with my girlfriend,” says Rawat, who is now based in Uttarakhand.
Taxi driver turned business executive: Love remains the same…
Ankit JoshiThe Noida-based taxi driver, who has 198,000 followers on Instagram, went viral in September 2023 after posting a video of him interacting with passengers, which garnered 400,000 likes. He quit his high-paying corporate job to become a taxi driver and gained popularity after recording his interactions with passengers in videos. He said, “I had my ups and downs when I was active on social media, but ever since I became popular, I’ve been loved. Now I’m also collaborating with Angkit Bhaiyya, and when people see me hailing a cab and find out about it, they’re overjoyed… Just two days ago, a girl from Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) called me and told me that she didn’t want to book a cab, she called me because she wanted to talk to me because I’m handsome (laughs).”
Military wife who set up the food stall: It’s not chai wali yet!
Sharmishta Ghosh, an Army wife to this day, who was named as her MA Chaiwali in a LinkedIn post in January 2023, is amused that social media has misrepresented her business. “I started an eatery in Gopinath Bazaar, Delhi Cantt, but tea was always an incidental thing,” says Ghosh, who has since risen to fame and branched out to run a cloud kitchen. Now based in Ranchi (Jharkhand) following her husband’s transfer, Ghosh says, “My business partner Bhavna Rao is in Gurugram. We may start a new project later this year. I hope social media will help like it did last time. But of course, without the labelling!”
(Input by Alina Azfar)
