By Pramod Thomas
THE story of Inder and Gurkirat Sarao, an Indian couple from Punjab in Melbourne, is indeed an inspiring one during these times of crisis.
Their Bollywood-inspired videos helped them earn instant fame and money on social media during the coronavirus lockdown.
This 'viral couple' has over 13 million views on their YouTube channel ‘Inder & Kirat’ and nearly 22 million impressions on TikTok through their individual channels @indersarao and @gurkiratrandhawa.
Besides, social media has now become their major source of income.
"We want to promote positivity through our videos," says the couple.
The couple's Bollywood-inspired content showcases fashion, cooking, relationships and culture. They also discuss issues facing international students.
They arrived in Australia as international students from Punjab in 2014 before settling in north Melbourne.
Mr Sarao tried his luck with taxi and Uber but was unsuccessful.
Then, posting videos became a much-needed source of income for the couple.
The couple used extra time at home through coronavirus lockdown to make and post videos on social media platforms.
According to Mrs Sarao, working from home became a blessing during the lockdown as it helped her to focus on YouTube.
"I quickly adapted to this new work-style of working from home. Not only did it help me save on traveling time, but it also gave me an opportunity to focus on YouTube as an additional source of income,' Mrs Sarao told SBS.
When India banned TikTok a few months ago, they shifted their focus to YouTube.
Within two months, they have attracted around 120,000 subscribers on YouTube.
The couple often speak about their migration journey from India to Australia in their videos.
'We often discuss these issues in our videos. We are still in an early phase of our migration journey and we know it takes a lot of time and hard work to settle in Australia,' she said.
Kulsuma Aktergetty images
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