Creators like Ankita Chawla (Hustlerani) and Alanna Panday are heavy on the aesthetics, and light on the actual hustle that goes into having a pretty, and perfect-looking life

Both Alanna Panday (left), who could owe her 2.4 million followers to her Bollywood vintage, and Ankita Chawla, with her carefully curated life on Instagram and 280K followers, put out ‘aspirational’ content. Pics/Instagram/@alannapanday, @hustlerani

I have been making a bunch of videos recently that document my life as a journalist in Mumbai. They include me walking to the metro station, eating lunch at my desk, my workout effort, and going to events I am invited to. There is also raw and real footage of me having my eggs, or videos with low lighting at a bar focusing on a blurry picante glass, or me coming home and ordering McDonald’s and eating it off a melamine plate. These are not aesthetic videos — unless the aesthetic would be trying to make a living in busy, dusty, hot Mumbai, as you make content, network, and have a life that you actually enjoy.

Compared to the videos Ankita Chawla (@Hustlerani) and Alanna Panday put up, I might as well be the troll living under a bridge. Panday’s got a whole colour scheme going — her husband and........

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