Village Cooking Channel Gets YouTube Diamond Button After Crossing 1 Crore Subscribers

Tamil YouTube cooking channel’s subscribers cross 1 crore

YouTube has awarded the Village Cooking Channel a Diamond Play button after the Tamil channel reached one crore subscribers, while its team donated ₹10 lakh from its earnings to the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund (CMPRF) to aid the fight against COVID-19.

The channel is run by farmers from Chinna Veeramangalam in Pudukkottai district, whose traditional cooking videos have taken their village to an international audience.

From farm work to a global audience

The six-member team welcomes viewers to each video with the words, “Ellarum vaanga, always welcomes you!”

The group comprises cousins V. Subramanian, V. Murugesan, V. Ayyanar, G. Tamilselvan and T. Muthumanickam, and is led by their grandfather and former caterer M. Periyathambi.

They began the channel to pass time when they were not engaged in cultivating their agricultural lands.

“We began this channel to pass time when we had no work, and to supplement our income,” V. Subramanian, the team’s in-house cameraman and tech expert, said.

“All men in Chinna Veeramangalam can cook, and we decided to show it to the world,” he said.

The channel’s videos focus on traditional cooking, with the team preparing food outdoors and serving the dishes after filming.

Food prepared for the village

The team earns around ₹7 lakh a month from advertising revenue generated by YouTube views.

As the channel’s viewership grew, the quantity of food prepared for its videos also increased.

“We utilise at least one-fourth of the money we make on purchasing ingredients and preparing a feast,” Mr. Subramanian said.

The food is served to the team’s friends, relatives and other people in the village, he said.

“Amid the lockdown, we began serving food in old-age homes and orphanages,” Mr. Subramanian added.

The channel’s earnings have therefore supported both the production of its videos and food distribution in the local community, according to the team’s account.

Subscriber growth after Rahul Gandhi’s visit

The team credited Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit with helping accelerate the channel’s growth.

“We used to get about 10,000 new subscribers a day. But since Mr. Gandhi’s visit, we have been getting 30,000 to 40,000 new subscribers a day,” Mr. Subramanian said.

The Village Cooking Channel is the first YouTube channel from Tamil Nadu to have one crore subscribers.

In a video uploaded to the channel, the group said it had seen videos of several YouTubers who had Diamond Play buttons with their names engraved on them.

“They will be speaking in several languages, but never in Tamil. We are proud to hold this distinction, and we thank Tamil people for this,” the group said in the video.

“Recognising our efforts in Pudukkottai”

Periyathambi, better known as thaatha, or grandfather, became emotional while holding the Diamond Play button.

“It is amazing that a company from the U.S. is recognising our efforts in Pudukkottai. I can’t believe the videos we made here, in our village, have reached people across the world,” he said.

“My advice is that we must believe in our abilities,” he added.

To commemorate the achievement, the team donated ₹10 lakh to the CMPRF.

“We were going to send it to the Chief Minister’s office, but we got an opportunity to meet him and personally hand it over,” the team said.

Source: The Hindu