THE INDIAN COMMENTATOR

  Vlog Reviews: Episode 2 The vlog is only fourteen minutes long, and after about six hours of posting, the video had gathered just above 30,000 views. This is a slow beginning for a vlog episode featuring one of the oldest, and vibrant Youtubers in Kerala, Annamma Pulivelil, who hails from Nadavayal in Wayanad district, Kerala. Her channel Annamma Chedathi Special is one of the fastest-growing Youtube channels and is managed by another renowned Youtuber named Sachin, who owns the channel Come on Everybody . The usual treat of Annamma chedathi special is cooking videos reconstructing many traditional delicacies of Kerala. The video released on 28 December 2020 was titled “Ammachi returns from Kottayam” and features an oral summing up of the vastly successful Kottayam journey of Annamma chedathi.  Since the Kottayam trip started, it is Sachin who appears in the introductory scenes of the videos, a shift from the regular anchors of the show, Babu, Annamma’s son and Annamma her...

  Vlog Reviews: Episode 1 This is the first time in my career that I am reviewing a vlog, a Youtube vlog. I haven’t seen a written review of vlogs as a reader either. If cinema, music, and art can be reviewed, why can’t we review vlogs also? Several people might have a taste for words written on a page. More than that, a written review is a confirmation of the value of the product reviewed. More than a video response, a written response often shares several corresponding information in analytical documentation. Recently, a vlogging community was formed, with the coming together of many video content creators of Kerala. However, there has not been serious documentation of the video contents created in Kerala or in India in general. There is certainly a nuance yet to be explored in every video narrative. It is similar to literature, in that sense.  In today’s review, I would like to focus on the video released by the top lifestyle vlogger in Kerala, Mr Sujith Bhakthan and his vl...

Finding myself at the crossroads of transition not just in a personal space but also in the social space, the writer in me paused for a moment and reckoned with the question of my new identity.  Even though I published my first book in 2012, when I attended certain gatherings in various colleges, the audiences still addressed me as a blogger, a moniker that irritated me at the time. Being a young and upcoming author, it was certainly a matter of great pride to be addressed as an author on public occasions. This, however, did not change the fact that I enjoyed blogging since the day I started my blog, The Indian Commentator.   The part I enjoyed the most about blogging was the reception of comments from readers and also the goodies I received as part of campaigns such as book review programmes. Being a reader of books my whole life, this was the most enticing element that hooked me to blogging and kept me at it for a long time.  I started The Indian Commentator in 2008. A...