For Global Investors Meet (GIM) 2024, the Tamil Nadu government will be showcasing its rural talent in the creative economy space. And for this, the State has roped in Village Cooking Channel, a popular YouTube channel run by a family from Chinna Veeramangalam village in Pudukottai. The team, comprising M. Periyathambi, a caterer, and his family members V. Subramanian (the cameraman), V. Ayyanar, Muthumanickam, V. Murugesan, and G. Tamilselvan, will talk about their business journey and model at the event.
The channel focuses on cooking traditional Tamil village food and has now ventured into making other innovative recipes too. As of December 26, 2023, the channel has around 23.3 million subscribers and a majority of their videos have over 100 million views.
“This is part of the creative economy where Tamil Nadu has huge potential. Globally, creative economy is one of the fastest growing sectors that employs huge talent. And the State has similar talent, which we want to leverage. Village Cooking Channel is an example of how technology and creative aspect has created livelihood and talent,” said, Vishnu Venugopal, Managing Director and CEO of Guidance, the nodal agency for bringing in investments into Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Subramanian from Village Cooking Channel told The Hindu over phone: “We started our journey with videos from a small village, and we are now excited to be a part of a global event.” The channel officially commenced operations in April 2018 but hardly had any views.
“We thought it was an easy business, but we ran into a lot of difficulties. We took a break to understand where we were going wrong. The next few months we analysed other cooking channels and went through the YouTube guidelines to ensure that we were adhering to them,” he said.
In October 2018, the family spotted a swarm of eesal (winged termites) and wanted to capture it on camera. “We posted this video on YouTube, and it went viral. From then, there was no stopping us. Our viewership base started increasing,” Mr. Subramanian said.
Currently, the team earns over ₹10 lakh per month. After paying taxes, the remaining money is split among team members.
“Earlier, we posted three videos per week, but we only post three to four a month now. We take three days for the planning process, another two for the shoot, and the remaining time is utilised for editing and formatting the video,” Mr. Subramanian said, and added, “We have reached heights because of the encouragement given by our followers, so we take the time to deliver quality content.”
Social media campaign
Meanwhile T.R.B. Rajaa, Minister for Industries, Investment Promotion, and Commerce, on Tuesday announced the launch of a unique social media campaign, #OneTrillionDreams, aimed at highlighting the human stories behind the State’s robust industrial sector.
The #OneTrillionDreams campaign, to be carried on @TNIndMin and @TRBRajaa on X (formerly Twitter), and on the Minister’s LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram accounts, is an effort to narrate the success stories of individuals from various industries in the State. It aims to bring forth the “#FacesBehindNumbers” – the dedicated workforce driving the State’s industrial output, exports, and economic growth.
This campaign is also a precursor to GIM 2024, scheduled to be held on January 7 and 8. The event will showcase the potential of Tamil Nadu as an ideal investment destination and highlight the contributions of its workforce.
