Asking a few questions about China

Abhiraj and Niyati

Last week, Milind Soman, Ranvir Shorey and Arshad Warsi lent their voices to a social media campaign that called to boycott Chinese products after tensions escalated between India and China over the border stand off in Ladakh. In fact, recent media reports from China indicate that the People-s Liberation Army troops have been holding night-time high-altitude exercises in the Tibetan Plateau to "infiltrate behind the enemy lines." The anti-China sentiment is riding high across the world for allegedly concealing details about the Coronavirus outbreak, leaving other countries with no time to build a defence. And, while it has long emerged from the lockdown, most global leaders are struggling to contain the infection. India surpassed China-s death toll of 4,638, inching close to the 9,000 mark.

So, when Abhiraj Rajadhyaksha and Niyati Mavinkurve, also known as Abhi and Niyu, of the Instagram handle Following Love, made a video on the China Debt Trap, it was bound to find viewers? But they didn-t think the numbers would hit through the roof. The video on China-s debt trap diplomacy has crossed one crore views on Instagram and has been shared by close to 30 lakh people. In the past two weeks, they have also gained more than one lakh new followers.

The creators, who are known for their 100reasonstoloveindia series, where they focus on everything that Indians should know and love about India, are quite matter of fact about their achievement. "We want to create content that-s important for Indians. Last year, we made a video about eco-friendly Ganeshas. We want important news to reach the millennial audience on a platform that they access," says 26-year-old Abhiraj.

The Chinese debt trap comes from the fact that Beijing is accused of luring developing and underdeveloped countries into borrowing money for infrastructure projects and later controlling them if they fail to pay their loans in time. It all started when the duo was researching data privacy, and how one could check privacy standards on Chinese mobile phone apps. "We were thinking of making this video when engineer-turned-education reformer Sonam Wangchuk-s video on the same subject was released.

So we supported his video with ours," adds. Niyati says, "If we can reduce our dependancy on China, we will be more independent. They are used to arm twisting their trading partners. This idea resonated with people, and they shared it. And lots of people decided that they will uninstall Chinese apps, and later, ask the important question of where their phone is made," says Niyati, a trained chartered accountant. Abhiraj says their Reasons to Love India series is doing well even at a time when the country is disillusioned with how the migrant crisis was handled. "We shot with Roti Ghar, an organisation that was helping migrant workers and the children of rag pickers before the Coronavirus crisis. But we put it up now, with a call for action. They collected R1.7 lakh in one day. I think people want to see positive content."

To watch, follow them on Instagram @abhiandniyu

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