MENTORS AND GUIDES

WORDS, WISDOM AND WIT ARE THE TOOLS OF THEIR TRADE. And social media their big worldwide stage.

Which they use to astounding effect, leaving their considerable following with lighter hearts, enlightened minds and a definite worldview. These are individuals who help you make sense of the world when it seems to be spinning too fast around you, offer salve for the soul when you feel out of synch with the universe or help take your minds off troubles by teaching you not to take the world—or yourself too seriously. Or if serious is how you want to appear, they guide you on the things that matter, moulding your opinion and expanding the horizon of your thoughts.

And so you have a Dhruv Rathee or a Ravish Kumar, one who strayed into the medium and the other who is born of it, shaping political opinion with no-holds-barred critical commentary. And humorists Zakir Khan, Vir Das and Anubhav Bassi who have made comedy into serious business, in terms of reach and money. And who would have thought YouTubers would become a thing? And yet here they are, the CarryMinatis and the Ranveer Allahbadias of the universe, whose easy homespun formulas are wooing the world. Even the spiritual gurus are not the same anymore. Be it Sadhguru or Sri Sri, they are espousing a religion for the modern world, one that focuses on living in harmony-with nature, with yourself and with each other.

1 DHRUV RATHEE, 30 YouTuber, Educator

The 3.4 Bn Views Man

BECAUSE his ability to splice information from news reports, video footage and socio-political data and present it in direct, clear explainers has found an instant connect with the youth and weaned audiences away from mainstream media outlets to his eponymous channels for political news content