“I am pursuing what I always wanted to do. I don’t care how much hurdles I will have to face. They will come, I will face them, I will fall, and then I will restart everything. This is what kept me going in this field. Food Blogging is a field which is still growing and many people are not aware of it; like my parents. They thought that I have chosen a wrong one. They used to say it’s better to be a doctor or an engineer instead of blogging. But I didn’t give up and continued on this path.
I am from Patna, Bihar. I started my food blogging journey almost one and a half years back from Patna itself. When I started, the blogger’s community was growing in Patna. I thought that this will be a good field for me to explore a lot of things. Also the other reason for choosing this field was to get out and know my own city. I wanted this because I was suffering from anxiety and depression. It was the best way for me to freshen up and start a new life.
I created a page on Instagram. For four to five months, it went really well. I got many followers which was the reason I got motivated to continue with the same. I became the part of this community and got to meet many famous food blogger from Patna. I learned a lot from them. In six months, I got featured in Times Of India. It was actually the Sunday times in which they published an article on the best 5 food bloggers of Bihar.
This article motivated me a lot and I realized that I have chosen the right path. But what I didn’t expect was my parent’s reaction. I thought they would be happy. But their reaction was just opposite. They didn’t support me at all. They wanted me to pursue medical field which was not meant for me. I stood against that belief and chose a different path.
I was glad I had friends who were always there. They motivated me to do even better. But situation went worse. I stopped posting anything on my page. A lot of times, I decided to deactivate my page, but whenever this happened there were 3-4 friends of mine who supported me and motivated me. Then I re-started my page and in eight to nine months, I started doing really well. I started getting brand collaboration offers which was the first ladder towards success for me.
For my higher studies, I changed the city. I moved to Dehradun from Patna which resulted in a lot of change in my work and lifestyle. I think every student faces a change when they move to a new city. But when bloggers change their city, it’s the change of their audience, environment, lifestyle and many more things. It’s just like another start when you have nothing in your hands. Same was with me, I chose journalism which my parents never wanted me to pursue.
I was in a new city where I knew nothing and then the pressure of academics and a lot more was on my mind. I was posting updates on my page but I lacked the enthusiasm. As the time passed, I realised that I should continue. Who knows what awaits for me in the remaining journey of mine as a food blogger?
I started exploring the city. Dehradun is a hub of cafes. I started collaborations with many cafes and started doing paid promotions on my page. I shifted my page from promotion of restaurants to promotion of home-made recipes due to some health issues. This attracted much of the audience and now I am happy that I took this decision for my page.
But my family isn’t supporting me till today. Most of the children get financial support from their parents so that they can fulfil their dreams but I never asked money from my parents. This resulted in loosing contracts with good brands. I was not having enough financial resources to travel. I never got to attend any bloggers meet, where I was supposed to meet so many famous bloggers from different fields. At that time I thought that the situation is still not in my hands. I gave it a thought and decided that to do something so that situation comes in my kitty at any cost.
Hence, I started saving my earnings so that I can buy a new phone. I wanted to click good pictures and post them. I still work with my phone only. Yes, I don’t have any hi-tech equipment like other bloggers. In this lockdown, I am trying my best to grow my earnings, save them and buy different equipments so that I can upload more quality content on my page. My current goal is to reach 10K followers on Instagram. I am thinking of creating a YouTube channel with some diverse content.
One thing that I’ve learned throughout my journey is living with what you have. People grumble about the lack of amenities but why not make the best use of the resources that you have. I have skills, creativity and passion in me. What else do I need. People make wonders without any cameras. This is the greatest mantra that worked out for me when I was new in this city and is still working out for me.”
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*The views expressed in the above article are of the writer and not Winged Club.