Visual Encyclopedia Of Delhi’s Unexplored Sites

Visual Encyclopedia Of Delhi’s Unexplored Sites

Delhi is a city which transcends both beauty and time. But then again, how many of us are aware of the boundless charms that this historic city epitomises. Well, all that and more are at our fingertips, thanks to Arjun Pandey, founder of Delhipedia. It’s an app hosted through YouTube that brings the wonder that is Delhi to our devices at the tap of a button. MYB caught up with Pandey to find out how this visual treat became a reality. 

I was born and grew up in Dilwalon ki Delhi. My summer vacations were always linked or connected with the process of filmmaking because my father, Ishwar Pandey was a documentary filmmaker. One of the things I am happy with was my education because I was fortunate that I had seen and visited many places across India by the time I finished school and entered the college. I started travelling at an early age so I am attuned to exploring new cultures, especially the vibrant cultural heritage, and what it has to offer.  

My choice of college in Delhi University was simple. I wanted to study in a college that had the lowest mandate for attendance, which is why I opted for the College of Vocational Studies, part of Delhi University's South Campus, famous at that time for some great eating places given its proximity to Bhagat Singh College. There I took Economic (Honours) because it was linked to welfare economics, which I finally got to study in my final year of college. 

I commenced my internship with my father upon entering college and by the time I was 19, I had completed my first project From Start To Finish which was a film for the Government of India.

Though I was working as an intern with my father and later with my uncle Mike Pandey, I also worked with my current business partner Chandramouli Basu, the director who started shows like Indian Idol and Roadies, 17 years ago. The journey started with a low-paying job that compensated with a lot of partying and evolved into a long-term business partnership for television content production.

During my internship, I had no idea that I would be heading towards running my own company, Twenty Four Frames. In the year 2000, I lost my father in a road accident. Since then then the journey has taken many turns with me having to take charge and steer the ship.

No amount of fighting can really change who we are. For instance, I felt that making documentary films was dull and I wanted to spice it up, so for a few months I worked with some of my friends in Dubai looking at exporting and distributing commercial Hindi films. This was a leap of faith and an interesting lesson for me. I sometimes label it as my ‘living MBA course’. Coming from a non-business background, I had to learn the ropes of the business, so I dived deep-end and it did work."

Though I developed a good sense of business, I found it impossible to turn a blind eye to the many unethical practices in use. I wanted to get back to my comfort zone. When I finally came back to India in 2003, I returned to producing documentary film and television content and started my business from scratch.

I feel fortunate to have had some great mentors. Starting with my father, Ishwar Pandey, an award-winning filmmaker, who taught me to be true to myself. I remember he used to tell me: “There are no retakes in life, you live life only once, so be true to who you are.“ My uncle, Mike Pandey, whose work for the conservation of wildlife species has always been an uphill task, taught me to fight a good fight and we have to be the voice of the weak because they have no voice.

Though I idol worship my family for having taught me what I know, there are others outside family who have also shown me the way such as Dr Amandeep Singh, a part of the IRS, Capt. Mohanbir Singh, known for his popular restaurant Hot Millions in Punjab, Angad Bhatia, founder of MensXP, Jawahar Wattal the man who introduced pop music to India, Shubha Mudgal, Daler Mehndi and Kailash Kher.

But one of most inspiring person I am lucky to have as a mentor is the honorific, Gyalwang Drukpa, the spiritual head of the Drukpa Lineage of Buddhism. With 27 million followers across the Himalayas and the world, he is a truly enlightened spiritual master, one who walks the talk. His most important advice that I had received is helping me in my spiritual pursuits and growth.

I always wanted to run a business because I was so intrigued by a model of social entrepreneurship that my father and uncle had instinctively created by working on some commercial projects and then cross-subsidising the profits into films that made a difference, made a change. Today, I realise that business is about giving back to the society and helping improve it. The visual media and the tools that I have, are an important part of it because they inspire people in more ways than traditional methods can

I see my company as a hub for commerce and services. I see it as a platform to expand the market rather than fight for small shares in a stagnant market and one that inspires people to discover new cultures and embark on a journey of exploration. Delhipedia is a YouTube channel and a digital magazine that brings alive the true essence of Delhi and its magnificent culture. And one day it will grow and expand, to other cities across India and globally. I intend my company to continue the same work.

In the past two years, the journey has been very interesting. We have had an increased interest in the business, from individuals and especially, from the users, who seem to like what we are doing. We want to make the platform one of our constant discoveries and keep it fun.

We have been able to partner up with people, which ordinarily, we would not have been able to afford. Our CTO, Punit Mongia, a wizard in the field of technology, is helping us to take Delhipedia to the next level. Our apps and websites are being worked on by his team and would be rolling out in the next few weeks/months. Punit, interestingly runs a company that has 10,000 digital juke boxes in US and UK that he operates from India. He is the same person who has created some cutting edge personalisation and customisation technology that the top Indian telecommunications companies are currently using.

The analytics that he brings can predict what the users want and when by using data. When we started working on Delhipedia, we wanted not just a website with a fancy interface, but also one with captivating content. So we invested heavily in creating content and today we have 107 videos on YouTube, with another 100 that are ready to upload and have more in the pipeline, on which we are working. Our community has now 1,49,000 followers, which is more than double the number from most of the other online communities that exist, apprised by the social media team.

The way I see it, Delhipedia is a successful concept because of its users, the way they are consuming our content, and the brands which are showing keen interest in us. It is now being approached by at least two brands a week to tie up. This is a tipping point for us because revenues have started coming in.

When I started my journey, there were several things that I learned and I realised that content plays a crucial role. It is the key to success which our users are smart enough to understand. Also, I should only play to my strengths in video- based content and things will work out.

In terms of content, the journey has just begun for Delhipedia. I have been fortunate to receive two National Awards, in addition to multiple international awards for the content and the films that I have made. They have also been played out successfully in 180 countries globally and on most of the major broadcasters. There is an excitement in every step that we take forward with Delhipedia. We feel a sense of achievement in terms of the numbers, the followers and the reactions of the users and the partners.

Though Delhipedia has its share of peaks but we haven't experienced any “Yes! I've made it” moment yet. It is just a starting of the most interesting journey and I feel good about it. The success of a few online platforms in India like EatTreat and Little Black Book, Delhi satisfies me with the fact that we are on a right track.

Few months ago, a friend of mine, Lavneet Gyani was staying at The Oberoi, Indonesia, where he was interacting with a staff member. Seeing an Indian, the staff member discussed his plans to visit India and Delhi next month. A general conversation turned into a moment of pride for us when he said that that he had been following Delhipedia in order to learn more about Delhi before he visits.

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