The unlikely influencer

Who doesnrsquot love the outsider Because somewhere deep down most of us think we are the dark horse that will make itRatan Kanwar Chouhan 23 greets this writer with hands folded in namaste instead of the usual hi When we apologise for our inarticulate Hindi Chouhan breaks into a dimpled smile jiggles a bit in her chair and says ldquoMera English theek nahin hai So no issuesrdquoShe is wearing a black windbreaker but the real statement is in the assortment of rings bracelets and ritual threads stacked on each wrist that are doodled with tattoos The red tilak on her forehead is arresting ldquoWithout it I feel incomplete like I am missing an appendagerdquo says Chouhan a believer of Karni Mata the Hindu warrior sage and official deity of the royal families of Bikaner and JodhpurAbout four years ago Jaipurbased Chouhan made a video on TikTok where she delivered a dialogue from the 2013 Bollywood release Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani The video went viral but its quick notoriety had the opposite effect on Chouhan personally Instead of gaining selfconfidence and an identity she was crushed Her short hair had sparked a debate Is she a girl or a boy ldquoIt was too much negative commentary I didnrsquot understand what I had done wrong I didnrsquot dress or speak vulgarly For some time I couldnrsquot get myself to post new videos Later on I decided to stick to my style and was back on the platformrdquo At the time India banned TikTok in 2020 Chouhan had 22 million followersOn Instagram she is now followed by 14 million people who watch her sing she has released 10 albums and like the smattering of personal straightshooting videos and paid promotions for local brands that have meagre budgets between Rs 20000 to Rs 50000Her gender identity continues to be under close scrutiny Comments ranging from the pointed ldquoTum ladki ho ladki jaisi rahordquo to meddlesome ldquoWhy do you keep your hair shortrdquo or ldquoWhy do you wear pants and a shirtrdquo donrsquot compel Chouhan to reply ldquoIf itrsquos their prerogative to guess itrsquos mine not to clear the confusionrdquo she says plainly ldquoHar ladki ek jaisi nahin hoti why canrsquot people support us without judgment I am most comfortable in gents clothing My parents had reservations too they said that itrsquos attire unbecoming of a woman To ignore is the greatest weapon of all If you learn to ignore life will get easierrdquo The contradiction comes when we ask about the future ldquoIrsquoll get married someday follow Rajputana customs and take care of my familyrdquoThe short hair controversy aside good things have come her way Chouhan launched Karni Fashions a retail store for Indian and Western ldquogentsrdquo clothing This was during the first Coronavirus wave A second ldquoladies wear shoprdquo followed This businessrsquos Instagram account has 259K followers and 109K subscribers on YouTube ldquoWithout social media platforms I would have had to shut my shop before it opened They kept us in businessrdquo she saysDaughter to Bajrang Singh Chouhan who worked in sales and homemaker Poonam Kanwar Chouhan is the first in her family to venture into fashion retail ldquoI realised I canrsquot make videos for the rest of my life My dream is to see that my fashion enterprise achieves the recognition that Gulabchand Prints enjoys with Sanganeri printsrdquo she says of the 90yearold Rajasthani heritage handblock print fabric maker Chouhanrsquos business strategy is fairly straightforward and deeply rooted in Jaipur ldquoMein designer nahin hoon nor do I follow Indian designers but I have ideas and some knowledge on what sellsrdquo she says confidently She buys fabrics mostly in Sanganeri prints from wholesale merchants and outsources it to tailors to create styles to suit menswear market trends From fabric to final fashion everything is made in JaipurThe interesting stuff happens on the marketing front Initially she shot videos herself now she has a team of two including a videographer who doubles up as a photographer and a publicrelations professional The videos are usually soundtracked to Bollywood songs or dialogues where Chouhan performs instead of rote modelling the menrsquos clothing It also includes a large spread of new launch posts and marketing via WhatsApp numbers But the sales pitch does not stop there Once an order is placed she makes a bitesized video to announce the new customerrsquos name and order ldquoNow customers insist that I shoot videos announcing their name and post it before the order is dispatched That alone totals 50 videos a day My customer is my GodrdquoChouhan displays all the Gen Z personality traits is selfinfatuated and totally at home online Itrsquos quite a leap for an individual who claims she was a wallflower and homebody until she turned 20 and went to college She also knows exactly why she is popular ldquoPeople like me because I project positivityrdquo she smiles ldquoThey think if this girl can do it so can werdquo