She rides a Royal Enfield Bullet, is a hardcore vlogger and lives each day with a purpose, totally unfazed by clouds of negativity which at times threaten to smog her into submitting to a world where gender parity is but a mirage.
That’s Jinsha Basheer for you. No run of the mill lass, this Alappuzha native is redefining accepted norms of what constitute womanhood.
Absolutely NewGen in her views and actions, she has this to say to the question thrown at her: Can you ever hope to help someone in distress through Facebook? “Certainly, ” she says waxing eloquent on the new age medium which has brought the wide world on to a single small computer or smartphone screen. You can air your views, act and react. One cannot possibly find a greater stage than this, she adds. She speaks with the courage of her convictions, for this is what Jinsha Basheer has been doing for the last several months.
Jinsha was raised to be fearless. Not one to shy away from reacting to unpleasant events around her, this trait of being intrepid grew along with her. As a child, she spoke out. Jinsha’s greatest assets are her confidence to take up issues which she feels deserves attention and her courage to speak up. She once chanced to see how things were “fixed” in petrol stations, where fuel is not got for the price paid. Though she showed the guts to question the men there, this led to the revelation that such fixes were the rule rather than the exception in all petrol stations.
Not to be outsmarted, Jinsha video-graphed the fuel drama and posted it on Facebook which fetched her about 5000 likes. This was the turning point. A couple of other videos posted became instant hits fetching her close to one lakh followers within a month.
First comment
The thrill of videos notwithstanding, Jinsha remembers the nerves of steel she developed to live through the swirl of devastating comments sent her way. They whipped her and cut through her. Folks accused her of craving for instant celebrity status. Some berated her womanhood, yet others flayed her for being smart. Though hurtful initially, the colour and tone of the comments later on became lewd, obscene and downright cruel. They sniped at her for riding a bullet. Though the videos she had posted did not affect any of them, the energy with which comments were posted was terrifying. Ultimately it all boiled down to the truth that all what she was into was forbidden fruit for a woman. So much for gender equality! Curiously enough, an NRI occupying a lofty post took it upon himself to post the most vulgar and revolting comments on her wall. When she could take it no longer, Jinsha took screenshots of those posts and highlighted them on her page. That ended the hate wave.
The most painful experience, perhaps, was the attitude of those who knew her well and whom she loved. It was as if she had disgraced them all with her brazen act of posting videos. Even her mother Parisha, who was genuinely hurt by the volley of abuse her daughter had to wade through, along wither sisters Jisha and Jinsha, said enough was enough. They called a halt to her mission. But then, a huge prop came up in the form of the unstinted support from her father and her husband.
Her father, who was once a soldier, could never visualize the thought of defeat and retreat. His daughter, retreating in the face of attack, was something Aryattupadeetathil Basheer would never even think of. This is what he told her: “If you believe in what you’re doing now and know that it’s totally honest, go ahead, irrespective of all the obstacles and setbacks you may run into.”
“Do what you think is right. You have my solid support,” said her software engineer husband Faisal. This was precisely what he told her when Jinsha quit her job as software professional. Her degree in engineering was not an all-important factor for Faisal when compared to what she wanted to pursue as her life’s mission. Backing her to the hilt were Faisal’s father Kasimkutty and umma Salma Beevi.
The weather, today, has changed for the better with a lot of detractors doing a volte face. They now call her when issues pop up and ask her to do video-proofs. They cheer for her, encourage her and vie with one another to take selfies with their local heroine.
Timely help
Quite a lot of Jinsha’s videos have been life-savers like the one she did for the late Shaan Shahul. Shahul lost his life just 25 days after he had left for the Gulf. Jinsha’s video recording the family’s despair and privation was taken up by the Saudi-based Al Khaseem NRI group which donated Rs 11 lakh to the family.
Another video recorded the agony of one-year-old Ayesha of Malappuram who needed a marrow transplant. Within a month, the infant’s family had Rs 30 lakh in their account.
It now dawned on folks that Jinsha was doing a noble deed which inspired her to go for more videos. That’s how people outside came to know of the still, sad life of Kozhikode native Muneer. His life was a struggle. He had no roof above and no means to even think of one. His assets were his three daughters whose future looked bleak. There was no way he could get them married. Jinsha’s video was a heartfelt plea for a house for Muneer and a call to kindhearted souls who would be willing to accept the girls without any thought of dowry.
Soon enough, one of the girls got married and the second is engaged to be married. And Muneer got Rs 4 lakh with which to set up a small house.
Whenever quick remedies and action are sought for, Jinsha is immediately called in. They know her videos will bear fruit. It was again Jinsha’s vlog which came to the rescue of the hapless Princy Jose who was trapped and locked up in her Arab master’s house.
It’s my vocation
Vlogging is my job, my vocation, says Jinsha to her detractors who accuse her of wasting time by posting videos on Facebook. She has a YouTube channel, Jinsha Basheer, after her name. All the videos posted on Facebook are uploaded on YouTube and she makes quite some money through her channel. When the videos are uploaded she links it to her Facebook blogs too. When folks access her blogs, it fetches revenue for the ads therein. She gets paid by those firms for the ads embedded within her videos. Some companies have even gone to the extent of sponsoring her videos just to get their ads in. Jinsha does not hesitate to say she gets somewhere round Rs 70,000 from her vlogs. And there’s nothing unethical about my vlogs or my mission, she hastens to add.
Jinsha’s vlogs seldom go beyond five minutes. She does anything from travel to food to mean machines (automobiles). She hates to court controversy and never does anything to court attention or publicity. Politics and religion are taboo topics. And the videos are well scrutinized and their subjects much researched before they are posted.
Goals aplenty
Jinsha knows her travel vlogs need better picture representations. This calls for a quality camera. She’s also toying with the idea of doing a tutorial where she can demonstrate how people can get an income out of video vlogging.
Jinsha dreams big. But there’s a lot more to do. She knows she will, for Faisal is behind her, with rock-solid support.
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