The unlikely influencer

Chouhan in a koti jacket; (right) Ratan Kanwar Chouhan models a Sanganeri print shirt for her fast growing Tier 2 and Tier 3 city audience

Who doesn't love the outsider? Because somewhere deep down, most of us think we are the dark horse that will make it.

Ratan Kanwar Chouhan, 23, greets this writer with hands folded in namaste instead of the usual, hi. When we apologise for our inarticulate Hindi, Chouhan breaks into a dimpled smile, jiggles a bit in her chair and says, "Mera English theek nahin hai. So, no issues."

She is wearing a black windbreaker but the real statement is in the assortment of rings, bracelets and ritual threads stacked on each wrist that are doodled with tattoos. The red tilak on her forehead is arresting. "Without it, I feel incomplete like I am missing an appendage," says Chouhan, a believer of Karni Mata, the Hindu warrior sage and official deity of the royal families of Bikaner and Jodhpur.

About four years ago, Jaipur-based Chouhan made a video on TikTok where she delivered a dialogue from the 2013 Bollywood release, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. The video went viral but its quick notoriety had the opposite effect on Chouhan personally. Instead of gaining self-confidence and an identity, she was crushed. Her short hair had sparked a debate: Is she a girl or a boy? "It was too much [negative commentary]. I didn't understand what I had done wrong; I didn't dress or speak vulgarly. For some time, I couldn't get myself to post new videos. Later on I decided to stick to my style and was back [on the platform]." At the time India banned TikTok in 2020, Chouhan had 2.2 million followers.

On Instagram, she is now followed by 1.4 million people who watch her sing (she has released 10 albums) and like the smattering of personal, straight-shooting videos, and paid promotions for local brands that have meagre budgets between Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000.

Her gender identity continues to be under close scrutiny. Comments ranging from the pointed, "Tum ladki ho, ladki jaisi raho" to meddlesome "Why do you keep your hair short?" or "Why do you wear pants and a shirt?" don't compel Chouhan to reply. "If it's their prerogative to guess, it's mine not to clear the confusion," she says plainly. "Har ladki ek jaisi nahin hoti, why can't people support us without judgment? I am most comfortable in gents clothing. My parents had reservations too; they said that it's [attire] unbecoming of a woman. To ignore is the greatest weapon of all. If you learn to ignore, life will get easier." The contradiction comes when we ask about the future. "I'll get married someday, follow Rajputana customs and take care of my family."

The short hair controversy aside, good things have come her way. Chouhan launched Karni Fashions, a retail store for Indian and Western "gents" clothing. This was during the first Coronavirus wave. A second "ladies wear shop" followed. This business's Instagram account has 259K followers and 109K subscribers on YouTube. "Without social media platforms, I would have had to shut my shop before it opened. They kept us in business," she says.

Daughter to Bajrang Singh Chouhan, who worked in sales, and homemaker Poonam Kanwar, Chouhan is the first in her family to venture into fashion retail. "I realised I can't make videos for the rest of my life. My dream is to see that my fashion enterprise achieves the recognition that Gulabchand Prints enjoys with Sanganeri prints," she says of the 90-year-old Rajasthani heritage hand-block print fabric maker. Chouhan's business strategy is fairly straightforward and deeply rooted in Jaipur. "Mein designer nahin hoon nor do I follow Indian designers, but I have ideas and some knowledge on what sells," she says confidently. She buys fabrics, mostly in Sanganeri prints, from wholesale merchants and outsources it to tailors to create styles to suit menswear market trends. From fabric to final fashion, everything is made in Jaipur.

The interesting stuff happens on the marketing front. Initially, she shot videos herself; now she has a team of two including a videographer who doubles up as a photographer, and a public-relations professional. The videos are usually sound-tracked to Bollywood songs or dialogues where Chouhan performs instead of rote modelling the men's clothing. It also includes a large spread of new launch posts and marketing via WhatsApp numbers. But the sales pitch does not stop there. Once an order is placed, she makes a bite-sized video to announce the new customer's name and order. "Now, customers insist that I shoot videos announcing their name and post it before the order is dispatched. That alone totals 50 videos a day. My customer is my God."

Chouhan displays all the Gen Z personality traits; is self-infatuated and totally at home online. It's quite a leap for an individual who claims she was a wallflower and homebody until she turned 20 and went to college. She also knows exactly why she is popular. "People like me because I project positivity," she smiles. "They think, if this girl can do it, so can we."