Aita is grandmother in Assamese. It is of no surprise the bond between grandparents and grandchildren but it definitely strikes all of your hearts chords when a grandchild enables their grandmother to be relevant in this fast paced world.
Jahnavi calls herself ‘Assistant’ and Kaw.Aita is her brainchild. Aita is quirky, hilarious and a delight to be around. Assistant has always recorded her funny responses to life and as ‘Instagram Era’ arrived so did the inspirations for Assistant. “I never thought I would be famous like this” she says blushingly.
Aita was born in the 40s. Her father was from Nepal and mother was from Assam and she and her two brothers grew up in Assam. She married Koka (grandfather) who was from Uttarakhand. He was in the army. Their family flourished in Dibrugarh. Aita’s eldest daughter is Assistant’s mother and she had always been looking after her grandchildren since theirs was a working mother. “These two are my best friends” she quips about her grandson and granddaughter boasting about the beautiful house that her grandson designed.
Aita loves K Drama. She doesn’t understand a word but watches it all day long. When asked about the plot, she would tell it almost accurately. This is what piqued Assistants imagination. Soon after content flowed because whatever Aita does is entertaining somehow.
Dhanmaya Devi loves going to the namghar. Now with almost 50k followers, her stature is even more alluring. Needless to say, she loves all the attention. “I strongly feel a sense of devotion there,” she says with her hand on her heart. “Everything is his blessing.”
Recently, she got her first brand deal with a makeup brand. Assistant, of course, made a reel about it and it obviously went viral. Aita loves the spotlight. When asked about life after being an influencer, she glees happily saying, “I have been one for 85 years.”
Assistant says videos of the Korean reality show Run BTS, of the famous boyband BTS, inspired her to do the same. Hilarious edits, it brings a smile to your face even on the worst of days. Content that leaves one content, in the truest sense of the word.
Jahnavi is a freelance content writer. Being Aita’s Assistant and shooting and editing all videos, adding subtitles etc is also a full time job too. A camera shy girl, all of 28, Jahnavi is a star in her own way. To be able to monetize this, isn’t her motive, “to spread happiness is”, she exclaims. Working from home gives her the luxury of time but everything comes with its own share of struggles.
Influencing is one of the most after sought after careers today. Everyone is a model or a comedian or an artiste of some sort. In the sea of “content creators” to be able to stand out and make an “impression” is no child’s play. In that hustle, to be consistently creating ‘relevant’ content is a feat in itself. The idea was to enjoy doing all of this but the hustle that followed has made it quiet of an ordeal for most, so much so that these ‘so called’ influencers are losing sleep over numbers, feeling a sense of loss if ‘likes and comments’ are not as expected. And thinking hustle culture is what they are looking for instead of a sustainable approach because life is actually meant to be lived and not suffered.
Amidst this mess, Aita stays raw and her approach to life is in perfect comic timing. She is unhinged as she is wise. She is after all, just a girl, who has kept her inner child alive. Follow her on @kaw.aiita
