I love to educate! My mother is hands down the best teacher I have ever had in my life. She teaches 8 hours in school and then takes 3 hours of tuition; that’s 11 hours of teaching every single day. And she has been doing this for the past 20 years! I got my love for teaching from her.
1. Tell us about your background and journey.
Hi, I am Kavya Karnatac! I run one of the fastest-growing educational pages on Instagram- kk.create. And I am on a mission- I will make you believe that geography matters.
I quit my job and started solo content creation in January 2023. In just 7 months, I was able to organically build an interactive and engaged community of more than 8 lakh followers.
And a lot of the credit goes to the places I have lived in and the people who have been a part of my life.
Even though my surname is Karnatac, I am actually not from Karnataka (though I wish I was, it is hands down my favourite state). I am a pahaadi, born in Nainital. I was born and bought up eating momos in Delhi. And now I am in the land of vada pao, Mumbai.
When I was about to graduate from 10th, my mother got me the entrance forms for all the famous institutes. (I was a topper! And like any generic Indian parent, my mother was convinced that I will do the best in science). But even then, I knew I wanted to study humanities. What I didn’t know was what to study after my 12th. So I decided to do English Honours. (There is a beauty in that subject, it teaches you so much while teaching you nothing at all). But I wasn’t complaining because I score 99% and got into one of the best (if not THE best) colleges in
India- Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi. And that was the most fun ride I ever had! I met so many (hot) women (LSR is an all-women’s college). They all came from different cities, classes, castes and each of these powerful women taught me so much. Also, I was a part of the most fun (and noise-making) society- LSR Dram Soc. Just a side note, colleges in Delhi have a very vibrant street-theatre culture. And anyone who is a part of that, remembers it for the rest of their lives. I do too, to date! By then I was bored of living in the same city, so I shifted to Mumbai. It was here that I did my masters, from one of the best social science institutes in India- TISS. It made me equipped with so many different skill sets. I learnt editing, shooting, scripting, and at the same time, I learnt a lot of THEORY. Because my course here was very unique- Media and Cultural Studies.
I was lucky to get one of the best first jobs possible. It was with a company called Pocket Aces that has given us some of the best and earliest content platforms like Dice Media and Filter Copy. But I didn’t work in either of those two. I worked in a new venture that they were starting- Nutshell. Nutshell is an infotainment page that I grew from 20K to 1 million in my time there. My amazing bosses and brilliant colleagues really made me feel that “yup, education content creation is what I want to do”. And I decided to do it solo.
I began by creating content around geopolitics. Since that is really the trend in India right now. Every second content creator is making content on geopolitics. But very soon I realized that I can’t truly make content on geopolitics, without understanding geo- i.e. geography.
And thus began my journey- of understanding and teaching geography.
2. What is your favorite thing about content creation? Why did you start creating content?
I love to educate! My mother is hands down the best teacher I have ever had in my life. She teaches 8 hours in school and then takes 3 hours of tuition; that’s 11 hours of teaching every single day. And she has been doing this for the past 20 years! I got my love for teaching from her.
When I was in class 10th, a teacher asked me “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I had the answer ready instantly! I wanted to be a teacher. I think teaching is one of the noblest professions ever.
I am lucky to have been born in an age when education is not just limited to classrooms. Some of the best teachings are happening online on YouTube and Instagram. I love the fact that anyone can make education simpler and fun through online mediums. Today, some of the biggest educators in India have come out of teaching their subjects online- PhysicsWallah, Ashu Ghai, Khan Sir, etc.
Through my channel, @kk.create I want to teach each and every individual something that they didn’t really know about their own country.
3. Why did you choose to teach geography?
Today, all online platforms are full of educational creators. But no one was talking about one particular thing- India’s geography. And trust me, India’s geography is really our biggest strength! It is not just about rivers and mountains. It truly shapes up a lot of the things in all our lives- the brands we consume, the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the politician we vote for. And yet, it has been taught so boringly in schools. We have all hated this one particular subject.
That is why I want to make geography cool again!
Trust me, knowing geography can make you richer AND more fashionable. How amazing is this subject!
4. How did you grow your audience so fast?
What makes my content different is relatability. I think my videos have truly been able to answer the different questions all of us have had about our country and states- The difference between Delhi and New Delhi, Why Rajasthan is NOT JUST a desert, North Indians don't speak only Hindi, How northeast has much more than forests- I have explained all of this!
My content is not just for students, it is for each and every Indian who wants to know their country better. “I hated geography in school. But this page is making me regret my choices”, these are the kind of comments that are very common on my posts. Parents comment that their kids love my videos. Even teachers themselves comment to tell me how they are using my videos in their classrooms. My videos are very much appreciated by not just students and aspirants, but also travellers.
My content even reached government officials. My collaboration reel on the river Narmada with the famous travel vlogger Monkey Magic went viral. It was even shared by the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh on his Instagram. Two of my reels on Nagaland (this and this) were shared by the Tourism Minister of Nagaland. Many famous athletes, singers, directors and other personalities have appreciated her videos in their comments. All of them just loved knowing more about their place of residence.
I think my content also stands out because of my innovative and interesting teaching strategies. I use a lot of engaging visuals- like 3D models. A lot of the times, I make them myself, like I did for this video- Why India is the most diverse country? I was the pioneer in bringing interactive 3d maps on Instagram for videos like Why is Delhi raining. For a lot of our videos, we also go out and shoot like- Biggest Myth about Pune and Why can’t we swim in Mumbai beaches.
And lastly, I keep listening to my audience. Till today, I reply to all the comments that we get. And mind you, they are a lot! We also create interactive quizzes on stories. Once my followers reply to them, I engage in conversations with them. I feel like my DMs are the best virtual classrooms. I get to learn so much about our country from my followers every day.
3. How do you earn money from being a creator?
Currently, I earn through brand collaborations. In a short time, I was lucky enough to collaborate with many big brands. Because geography as a subject is so multidisciplinary, I have been able to collaborate with many brands from diverse genres. For example, my collaboration with a very famous finance app got more than 1.5 million views. In fact, most of my branded reels have reached millions of views. This clearly shows that my videos have given an amazing ROI to the brands while being useful for my audience. I have been able to seamlessly incorporate brands from different genres like finance, education, trading, clothing, etc into her content.
4. What are your future plans in life?
Nearby plans are simple- venture into long-form content and create a course. Eventually, I will love to write a book on “Why Indian geography matters!”.
And alongside, I am also looking at some technological interventions that I can offer to my audience.
6. What piece of advice would you like to give to future and aspiring creators.
- Love the process of creation.
- Keep looking at and analyzing the numbers.
- Make content that is relatable.
- Keep experimenting.
- Listen to your followers.
7. Which is your favorite book and why?
It’s definitely Indica! This book is by a biochemist, Pranay Lal. I bet you, in each and every page of this book, you will find information about India that will blow your mind! The book is full of amazing fascinating visuals. It’s really a one-of-a-kind book. You will understand the geographical history of India since the beginning of time.
Brief Bio:
Kavya Karnatac runs one of the fastest-growing educational pages on Instagram- kk.create. Her mission is simple- make geography fun! In just 7 months, she has organically built an interactive and engaged community of more than 8 lakh followers.
Interviewed By - Saloni
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