CarryMinati talks about life, her career plans and what …

Ajey Nagar aka CarryMinati is one of the most popular YouTubers in India, with over 10 million YouTube subscribers. TIME magazine named the 20-year-old ‘Leader of the Next Generation’ in 2019, and this young streamer also regularly makes videos about toasting and rap. At Tech2 Innovate, she spoke with Ragini Verma, director of Network18 Digital Videos, about how to handle fame at a young age, her rap career, and what she does to avoid becoming mentally saturated. She also opens up about coping with depression and shares what she did to combat it. Below is the full exchange: Editor’s Note: Some answers have been edited for brevity.Ajey Nagar, aka CarryMinati.Ragini: It is wonderful to see the emotion in this room. Thank you very much for joining us at Tech2 Innovate. As you all know, 2018 and 2019, we have seen how technology has led to the rise of gaming in India. With the availability of affordable smartphones, cheap data, and the Battle Royale game everyone loves. What it has meant is that we see in the reports that this could become a billion dollar industry, with around 350 million users by 2021. There is a thriving gaming community that is present here today, a very engaged audience, lots of players and some really big game stars. It is our pleasure to welcome you to Tech2 Innovate today. Ladies and gentlemen, indeed boys and girls, this is Ajey Nagar, also known as CarryMinati. Thanks for joining us today. Ok Ajey, let me start by asking you, you started the CarryMinati channel in 2014. But, very few people know that you’ve been into content creation long before. Having done that for over a decade, how does it feel to be so close to 10 million?Wear: I would say that until last year, I was very excited for 10 million, that’s a great number. But, when we strive for one thing for a longer period of time, then if you get it, you feel like you’ve done it, and what after that? In my mind, I am thinking what to do next. I have to establish a new benchmark.Ragini: While we’re on the topic, how many zeros are in 10 million? (Audience laughs)Wear: Seven zeros, so much math I know. I got 1 point in class 11.Ragini: You became very popular and successful at a very young age. When you were a teenager, when you experienced so much fame, what was it like? Tell us about the good and bad of the experience.Wear: Good things are obviously the love of people. I have the love of my parents, but this is a different kind of love. It’s a good thing, it’s a kind of addiction. When people send those lovely messages, my ego gets a boost. As a teenager your ego gets a huge boost, that’s a very good thing, the downside I would say is that you have to work a lot to achieve it. I’ve sacrificed a lot for it, like I wasn’t going to college.Ragini: We all know.Wear: What do you mean we all know that (audience laughs)?Ragini: It took you a while to figure out how many zeros there are in 10 million. So I just made a general assumption.Wear: Nerd. The audience was cheering, she was just letting them have her. That is the big difference. So, as I was saying, I didn’t go to university. I don’t even know how to drive a car.Ragini: Happy to teach you. In real life I drive very wellWear: Yes please. Someone please teach meRagini: Once you become part of the PUBG universe, you automatically connect to a thriving community, and we can see it here (say hello to the public).Wear: I’ll tell you an interesting fact, ma’am. When you play with your friends. Suppose you are playing with four people, and when you breathe, all 4 breathe simultaneously. Your breathing is synchronized when you play together. Your gaming friends become your staunch friends, because you join them on a different level. So if you want to get a girlfriend, you have to play a game with her.Ragini: You are too young to say such profound things. How old are you?Wear: I am 20.Ragini: Your age is when most people begin to evaluate career options. You have a decade behind you, a profession already. Do you feel like you’re stuck with it now? Would you have chosen differently if you had to choose options at this point?Wear: I would do it in this industry when I joined, I was always the youngest. All the others were older than me. I would call them “Bhaiyya” or “Lord”. I think they have a lot of wisdom. You learn when they share their wisdom with you. When I see a 20 year old boy or girl, I still see them as children because they still have a lot to figure out.

Ragini: You are diversifying into music. We saw the song Zindagi, and received an overwhelming response. Are you serious about rap?Wear: Yes, the things that I cannot say directly, I can express them through music. Music is a very good thing and everyone listens to it. Through music, one can express so many things that one would not normally feel comfortable doing. He had written Zindagi in September while going through difficult times. My depression, anxiety was at its peak. I faced many difficulties in my personal life, I faced many difficulties in my career. I couldn’t show people my problems, but internally a lot was happening. At the time, the song was a way out of all that pain and grief.Ragini: You know from the outside, it’s hard to imagine someone so successful going through the frustration you’re talking about. Do you want to share more about it? Could you share it with a wider audience? If that is something they are dealing with, perhaps there is a lesson they can learn.Wear: How many are depressed here? None? (laughs)Ragini: Everyone is happy looking at you …Wear: It will happen one day or another. Look, depression or anxiety are not things to be joked about. These things are very important. If you listen to it now, it would be beneficial, if not, it is your life. This phase will come at least once in your life, where you will experience anxiety, depression. Where you hit a low point in your life. But it is very important that you experience it because these low points will make you stronger. It’s like a game level. What is the first level of PUBG? Bronze. You go from bronze to silver and gold. If you play daily against gold level players you will get used to it, then you switch to the platinum category, that’s where the challenge begins. So before going to the platinum level, you must have been to the gold level. Similarly, the more you face more problems in life, the stronger you will become and move forward. So don’t be afraid of trouble. Challenge them, say “ok come to me”, I will also face you and both will fight. Look, there is always a happy ending. Remember this. It may seem fake, but there are always happy endings. You need to face your problems. I don’t know why I sometimes become Sandeep Maheshwari.

Ragini: Maintaining a channel is a lot of work. In 2017, he started Carry is Live, and now he’s making music too. Has the roast taken a back seat?Wear: Everything has a flow. It depends. For example, I made a video and hit a saturation point making roast videos. Then I decided that I would not do those videos for a week. In that week I make streaming videos or music. When I’m saturated with that, I go back to the videos. I keep playing between the three of them.Ragini: It’s fun to visualize that. Carry finishes a barbecue, goes here and there and does something else.Wear: Yes, because those things are fun to me. But it is also my job. So I’m having fun and doing my job at the same time and it’s a good feeling.Ragini: You not only like PUBG but you also like to play other games. Do you think the Indian gaming community is synonymous with the PUBG gaming community? Do you see that changing?Wear: I’d say a lot more people are interested in PUBG because everyone has a smartphone, it’s more accessible. Not everyone has a PC or laptop. PUBG has its own community, other games also have their own communities, many games older than PUBG like Counter-Strike, DOTA 2, have their own communities, but they are smaller than PUBG. Little by little, these games are catching up with PUBG popularity. People are interested in games, because of PUBG. In 2014-15, the game was considered child’s play, as a hobby. Now it’s cool. If you say I got that many kills in PUBG, that’s great now.Ragini: You do (play games) like work. What do you do to relax?Wear: That is a good question. Because whatever is fun for you is work for me. Playing for you is a hobby, a way to solve your frustration. But that’s my job. So I need to do senior things like yoga, meditation to feel good from the inside.(From left to right) Tanmay Bhatt and CarryMinatiRagini: Both (CarryMinati and Tanmay Bhatt) have one thing in common. A decade of career in what you’re doing, despite the age difference. So why don’t you share tips with people who aspire to become streamers, content creators?Wear: How many people want to make YouTube? (Audience raises hands) You should.Ragini: Don’t stop at that.Wear: You can learn just by watching the broadcast. Don’t look at it as an audience, rather look at it as your job. Observe the little things, then you will understand how someone does those things, then your mind will open. Even if you’re watching a regular YouTube video or streamer, think about what happened behind its creation. What was the thought process, how did they shoot it? Look at all of that. When you start a YouTube channel, don’t think that you can make a million subscribers in one day or even a million subscribers in 100 days. That is really difficult. The main thing is to keep doing it, if you stop working on the channel, it will be finished. But instead, just keep doing it as your hobby and wait. Do new things and try to evolve. Change is the only constant in life. Develop the content, find out what works and discover new things in life. Look at things.Ragini: Basically, to sum it up. Uniqueness, your own style, self-training, be consistent.Wear: You just have to be yourself, because nobody can be you.Ragini: Carry, how long do you think you will continue to do this?Wear: I want to do it for the rest of my life. But honestly, I don’t know. Whatever plans I had two years ago, they have changed dramatically and I think my current plans will change after two years. I think that every year I discover something new and that alters my vision and my thinking. Instead of having a five-year plan, I try to make a one-year plan. But I really want to make music, games and toast.Ragini: Do you want to take it as it is?Wear: yes

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