J&K woman turns passion for gaming into income stream

Jammu, May 11 (PTI) Reetu Salathia (44) took up online gaming during the Covid period in 2020 after being introduced to the virtual world by her son. Now, the Jammu-based homemaker earns Rs 1.50 lakh a year streaming games online, carving out for herself an independent source of income.

Known as “Blackbird” in the gaming community, Salathia boasts close to four lakh followers on Rooter, a gaming platform. While she has been passionate about video games from her childhood, she has now taken gaming seriously and looks at it as a means to be independent.

“I am not highly educated. I have passed Class 12. I loved gaming. From the beginning, I wanted to earn for myself. When my son told (taught) me about livestreaming (of games), I started to do it. I am also earning for myself,” she told PTI.

Looking at her passion, the Salathias dedicated one room in the family home in Jammu’s Netrikoti area for her gaming activities.

Having started with “Candy Crush”, Salathia slowly progressed to “Battlegrounds Mobile India”. She tries one and all the games that her partners insist on playing.

“I started with ‘Candy Crush’. Then I started online gaming Slowly and steadily, I learnt it by continuously playing the games. I can play any game,” she said.

While Salathia is known by her “Blackbird” handle in the gaming community, her partners — most of whom are children — call her “Muma”.

“The biggest compliment for me was that children asked me whether they could call me ‘mother’. It was an emotional moment for me,” she said.

Salathia, who has since launched her gaming channel on YouTube, said her family supported her throughout.

“The reaction of my family was very positive. I am very happy to play with youngsters,” she said.

Her son Gaurav Singh said, “We never thought she would get such love from the people.”

Balancing all her work, Salathia finds time to play three to four hours every day and earns more than Rs 1.50 lakh per year.

“She manages it perfectly. She dedicates time at home, to the dogs and the family and also to the game. She manages it perfectly,” said Divyanshi, a relative of Salathia.

Her husband Ajeet Singh Salathia said they fully support her passion for gaming.

“Gaurav was playing first. He taught her. She left him behind by having nearly four lakh followers,” he said.