Shubham Parmar has his hands full. The 24-year-old Delhi resident works a nine-hour shift in the hospitality industry, commutes daily from the national capital to Gurugram, and spends his after-hours driving for bike taxi service Rapido — all while documenting his long, tiring days on social media.
Parmar said his decision to take on additional work stemmed from a desire to generate a second income and to pursue a long-standing passion for content creation.
Speaking to HT.com, he said, “I’m currently living in Delhi and working in the hospitality industry, with my job based in Gurugram.” His office shift lasts nine hours, after which he often rides for Rapido and later spends time filming, editing and uploading videos for his Instagram page.
Asked how he came up with the idea to work for Rapido after office hours, Parmar said, “I started earning from an early age because I always wanted to be different.”
“Everyone in my family has been in service to the nation, and I too once dreamt of becoming an officer. But like many teenagers, I made mistakes ignoring my parents’ advice to focus on studies. I got influenced by the wrong company, spent more time playing than studying, and honestly, I was never great academically.”
Parmar traced the beginning of his content journey to a gift from his grandfather. “In 2016, after completing my 10th standard, my grandfather gifted me a phone. That’s when I started a YouTube channel and began creating content. I even managed to gain around 9,000 subscribers.”
However, the reaction from those around him was less than supportive. “But back then, people around me, especially my friends, used to mock me — ‘Youtuber banega?’, ‘Hero aa gaya, videos banata hai,’” he recalled.
“Their taunts and lack of support affected me deeply, and eventually, I gave up on it. But in my heart, I always had a dream to make something of my life.”
Years later, a random video helped rekindle that dream. “One day, I came across a video from a Gurgaon-based YouTuber. It randomly popped up in my feed, and it reignited that wish. The idea of working for Rapido came to me through YouTube.”
Even today, Parmar said, the mockery hasn’t stopped entirely. In one of his recent videos, he spoke about how his office colleagues tease him by calling him “Rapido wale bhaiya.” Despite the remarks, he said he has now learned to ignore them.
Parmar revealed that his annual salary package at his full-time hospitality job is around Rs 3.6 lakh per annum — which translates to a monthly in-hand salary of under Rs 30,000. To support himself and his ambitions, he supplements his income by riding with Rapido.
“I earn an additional Rs 10,000 to Rs 22,000 per month through Rapido, depending on how much time I’m able to dedicate,” he said. “The earnings vary, but it’s been a reliable source of side income for me.”
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