Meghalaya to Kerala, meet the 25-yr-old capturing stories across India in 99 sec videos

Sai has been posting 99-second videos of ‘people, places and ideas’ on his video-blogging project called ‘On The Ground’ since July last year.
Sai Sethu On the ground
Sai Sethu On the ground
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Sai Sethu believes that to tell a good story, just 99 seconds is sufficient. “It’s short, it’s not 100 (laughs). People will think ‘Oh, this is just 99 seconds, I can watch it’. I just tried to play around with that idea,” he begins. Sai has been posting 99-second videos of “people, places and ideas,” as he puts it, on his video-blogging project called On The Ground. August 4 marked the release of his 100th video.

Popular Israeli video blogger Nuseir Yassin’s Nas Daily was a big source of inspiration for this engineering graduate turned journalist to pursue his idea.

“I was always inclined towards television and I made a choice to pursue journalism after my fourth year of engineering,” says 25-year-old Sai, who completed his education from the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) and then from the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai. After a few brief stints with a television channel and digital news websites, Sai decided to fly solo.

“I was immediately glued to Nas Daily’s way of storytelling. He inspired me greatly and I thought why not do it in India and create some real impact,” Sai shares.

Equipped with audio and video recording gadgets, in July 2019, Sai began by exploring his native state – Tamil Nadu. Little over a year later, Sai has covered six states and a union territory across the length and breadth of the country. “I always travel by public transport, stay in simple hotels or be hosted by kind people. My journey has helped me create a close network of people,” he says.

This small community is the basis of Sai’s idea for On The Ground.

“I want to create a community. During my travels, I have understood the power of a close-knit community. It has to be inclusive and a safe space for everyone,” he adds.

Ordinary people, extraordinary stories

From sustainable practices adopted by villagers in Kerala’s Vengeri to capturing the unique sounds of locals in Meghalaya’s whistling village Kongthong; from the self-sustained school in Kodaikanal hills in Tamil Nadu that even produces its own electricity, to a family that has made its self-sustained home inside a forest in the hills of Sakleshpur in Karnataka, On The Grounds traverses all kinds of landscapes, capturing all kinds of people with breathtaking stories to share.

Apart from scouring through regional newspapers to find special stories, Sai banks on his close community of people to help him with story pointers. “People drop messages with recommendations and I also hop from one story to another led by oral accounts.” He then goes back to four ‘I’s - “intrigue, inspire, impact, interest” - to pick his stories.

When asked to share his experiences of meeting such people with inspiring backstories, Sai says, “It is about how ordinary people are. How they don't care about materialism and believe in doing what they care about. These people are so futuristic and progressive, be it abandoning open defecation or becoming electricity independent… There are so many lessons that people from urban landscapes can draw from.”

And rightfully so, a myriad of stories come together to paint a picture of progressive living, featuring spirited individuals. Sai especially recalls his time with Padma Shri recipient and cardiologist from Bengaluru, Dr B Raman Rao. “He runs the world's longest-running free clinic for the past 46 years at his native village T Begur. He spends his week in Bengaluru where he is a renowned cardiologist, working in big hospitals, and on Sunday he heads to this village,” Sai begins.

“And you cannot possibly begin to imagine the number of patients who would throng his clinic on Sundays,” he continues, adding, “Long lines of at least 2,000 to 3,000 patients are a common sight. He was the nicest man I’ve met, very down to earth and also treated me with dignity. His work is unparalleled and any country should be proud of having such citizens.”

Even as coronavirus cut his journey short after he returned from Meghalaya just a few days before the first nationwide lockdown was imposed, Sai has found other ways to create more content.

“I have been featuring COVID-19 warriors for the last few months,” says Sai. On The Ground has featured Veggies For You, a van in Coimbatore that door delivers about 60 varieties of fresh vegetables procured from organic farmers, a catering team also in Coimbatore known as Nallaramm whose mission is to feed at least 60,000 people a day, a woman tribal community leader who has been empowering her community members in different ways and many more.

While Sai is mostly a one-man team, he has support from friends and family. “I have some friends who help go over my scripts and my family has helped me financially. I should thank them for being my strong support system,” he adds.

According to Sai, his videos have been going strong. “I have about 3,00,000 to 4,00,000 total views on Instagram and 2.5 to 3 million cumulative views on Facebook. The next plan is to expand on YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn. I am yet to finalise on collaborations, and I am also looking for sponsors in the long run,” he adds, talking about his future plans.

Admitting that a book full of anecdotes might be definite in the future, Sai adds that the whole experience has been an eye-opener for him. “I feel more confident and I believe in the power of dreams a lot more now. This journey has taught me the importance of being curious and learning. How I perceive the world has changed and I feel like I am more aware now,” he says, adding, “The people I have featured are surely the hidden gems of India and we need to preserve such folks.”

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