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Enjoy Life it to its full
(This article is shared with a hope that my story may inspire some viewers who are similarly placed on professional front or those Home-makers who want to realize their full potential.)
I was born and brought-up in Chikkadpally, Hyderabad. My parents are Kuppa Gopalakrishna Murthy Garu & Kuppa Lakshmi Kantam. From schooling to college, I attended Peoples Primary School, Madapati Girl's High School, Nampally Women's College and Reddy Women's College in Hyderabad.
I completed Bachelors in Science in March 1987 and married Shri SDP Sharma in October 1987. Being fresh from college, young and newly married, my entire focus was on setting-up of our home. We had our child, Abhilash in March 1989. Thereafter with my husband's encouragement, I appeared Bank Exams and was selected to State Bank of India in 1991 (while we were in erstwhile Bombay). I joined in Palghar branch and then worked in Bhubaneswar (LHO), Bhopal - Kasturba Hospital & RCE Branches of SBI. Thanks to my husband's job, in NABARD, we had an opportunity to move around the country i.e. Bombay, Bhubaneswar, Bhopal & Vizianagaram. Presently we are at Mumbai.
Though I liked to pursue a career, I always believed that my family is equally or more important than my career. In my annual reviews, I was rated consistently as an excellent worker for 15 years. In 2006, I sought a transfer from SBI Bhopal to the place of my husband's posting i.e Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh. After a reasonable wait of six months, I preferred to join my family and SBI fellows preferred to place me under "Voluntary Vacation of Service" regulations.
This Vacation, or easing out {LOL :):)} proved to be a great blessing in disguise and gave me an opportunity to pursue my passion & liking. I like watching movies, hearing classical Carnatic music, reading books and surf the Internet.
I enjoyed film making & editing too. Being from traditional & middle class background, joining cinema industry to realize my film editing passion was impossible. Thus while out of job, in Steve Jobs words I followed "my Heart & Intuition" and experimented with Film Making & Film Editing. My passion made me digitize all our personal albums at home and convert them into thematic movies to which I gave background score / music.
Thereafter, when my nice was getting married, I wanted to present her an innovative & special gift - DVDs having traditional family recipes. Thus I experimented utilizing my spare time making recipe videos in which the vegetables, spices, cutlery etc became the actors, who ungrudging gave poses as needed. When these movies were shown to a family friend, he suggested to host them on YouTube for the benefit of many other children like my niece. Thus these videos, found place on YouTube through www.gayatrivantillu.com and presently receives your patronage.
Viewers response and feedback was immense and gave a lot of personal satisfaction, especially when children & forced bachelors placed far away from their near and dear write acknowledgements indicating that they rely on my recipes to prepare home-made food. Your constant & consistent viewership culminated in selecting me to be one of the Five "YouTube India - 2014 Top Chefs " (Click Here).
Looking back, had I continued in SBI, I would have retired as a mere cog in the juggernaut of SBI, learning the dull "Debits & Credits". I really doubt, whether I would have gained even a fraction of the present recognition & following. Today I have a patronage of more than 21 lakh followers on Google+ with 15.6 crore views and thousands of fans, friends, contacts, followers on Social networks like Facebook, Linkedin & Twitter. Today a single tweet on a suggested recipe reaches more than 19,000 people!
I'm able to set aside a part of the proceeds from this website to work with some NGOs for feeding the poor and setting-up of income generating units for their livelihood. In nutshell, the present engagement with "GAYATRI VANTILLU" seems to be fulfilling the purpose of life, than what it was, while I was in SBI - working like an "Ant". If one has a real passion to show-case, I believe Money & Fame should follow automatically. To illustrate my journey in life on making a career, I share the following two videos on my professional life
Ant & Lion Jungle Story
(Ants are always happy because they can live wherever they go, without support systems!!!!)
CNBC reference to Gayatri Vantillu
Here I would like to caution that if a person's first objective is to earn money through videos, it would never be viable in the first instance - because there is too much competition out there. It is the confidence and loyalty which needs to be gained from viewers, for which our video content should be original & trust-worthy. Taking forward, I also share that one need not invest heavily in infrastructure to produce great content so as to compete. For example my family encouraged me to take the digital camera into the kitchen to shoot pictures and use my home computer for video editing etc. I made my initial 150 videos, relying on the basic physical resources at hand. It is only at a later part, I introduced Melamine-ware, crockery and cutlery to high-light the ingredients & finished products for better production quality. Mine is a just an ordinary Sony-DSC-W570 costing less than Rs 10,000 and a Home PC with windows movie-maker.
The next obvious question is how much do I earn? I earn sufficient to say a "NO" to my earlier SBI job. But I slog equally or even more than what I did while in SBI, while shooting a new recipe. Now, there is no necessity to clutch my hand bag, jostle through the crowds to eke my living, LOL:):):). From the comforts of remaining at home, my passion keeps me produce recipe videos and reach my viewers.
Looking back, I still remember that day when I had an appointment with my Eye-Doctor MK Ajwani, at Arera Colony, Bhopal with whom I shared about being laid off from SBI. Surprisingly he congratulated me and predicted that I'm going to do something bigger, provided I follow my heart and remain passionate. He narrated his wife's story who left LIC job and is doing very well in her boutique business, where she designs exclusively dresses. Myself and my husband both laughed it off in 2006, because little did we understand what he meant!
For people who are similarly placed on career front, especially Ladies, I want to reassure that if one door closes, another opens. It is difficult to quit on your own a lucrative job, but at times, if the family compulsions make you lose / leave a job, consider it to be a great blessing. Because you get an opportunity to start on your own with your own inner strengths. Similarly those who have been Home-makers all along and have a passion can reassess what their core competencies are and work on them. As an example, just check on the Internet for Pedicure, Manicure, Hair-styling, Home-Organising, Home-cleaning, Photography, Music, Mono-Acting, Carpentry, etc. You have so much content in videos too on YouTube. Having attended the YouTube partner meetings since 2011 , in every meet I find new-faces and hear new trades which they pursue - some of them doing very well because of their content.
If you find the above interesting and inspiring you may also like to read Sexual Harassment in Work Places (SBI) - Womens' Day Clebrations
Click here to participate on the Blog Discussions and make GAYATRIVANTILLU content richer!!!
Viewers comments
Anonymous said...
Dear Gayatri
We have all got our own struggles in life. You however have done something positive in your struggle.
I am inspired by your example and my eyes filled with tears when I read that you used the time while fighting discrimination to come up with this website.
This gives me strength and also a huge amount of respect for you.
You are a very good cook too.
I normally dont comment on any postings but I felt that you are one in a million.
I wish you the very best in your life.
May God bless you and your family.
Best regards
Krishna
January 29, 2009 7:15 AM
Anonymous said...
Congratulations. God bless you keeping up your spirits always high. Your site is very useful to all. You have made best use of the time off the work thanks to inhuman approach of the SBI hierarchy.
There is another lady here with three daughters in school/college who was given tranfer orders in the evening to join the new station next morning. She did not oblige them and now fighting like you.
I am also running a one-man show here in the IICD. But yet to develop a site. This discipline "COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT" is not taught in any college/university in India and none offers a degree in it.
My son who is in California sent me your web address.
Wishing you all success in your good socially useful work.
Best Wishes.
V.A.Vasudevaraju IAS (Retd)
Chairman
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
5, Sixth Cross, Brindawan, Pondicherry 605 013
June 4, 2009 7:06 PM
vijaya said...
Hi Gayatri garu,
I really appreciate you, because I like all your recepies especially the presentation by listening your presentation I thought you are Old Lady.By seeing your profile I came to know that you are not that much old what I thought.
Thanks Viji
August 11, 2010 4:10 PM
vijayalakshmi said...
Gauravaneeyulyna Gaytri Garu,
Naa Peru Rajanikanth , maa aavida peru Lakshmi.
Maa Aavida roju mee vantalani choosi ikkada chesi pedutundi. chaalaa baaga vuntunnayi. mee vantala salahalaki dhanyavadhamulu.
But I am more impressed with your attitude and the respect to our culture.
My best regards to you and your family !
Thanks
Rajanikanth
New Jersey
June 10, 2009 5:37 AM
Anonymous said...
Hello Gayatriji,
I am very happy to find your website and it inspired me to cook more dishes and create interest in me for cooking, I live overseas so immediately after marriage I came with my husband and I never got to learn in mothers place more about kitchen knowledge, so I was lost regarding cooking tips, your website is of great help and I am very thankfull to you, I feel like home as Im from south india too, I love the way you make the recipie in a simpler way and very affordable way, Im proud of you that you have become a useful citizen and a helping hand to many indians who stays outside india, I am a great admirer because of your simplicity in ur personality after I read your profile.Keep It up...Thank you very much,Ashwini.
June 15, 2009 7:07 AM
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