California-based Bengali YouTuber Mahua Gangopadhyay, widely known for her lifestyle channel Probashey Ghorkonnar, has found herself at the centre of controversy after posting a vlog documenting the death and funeral of her mother-in-law.
Mahua, whose conversational style has earned her a large audience among Bengali viewers across age groups, shared the video shortly after returning to India following the death of her husband Manik Gangopadhyay’s mother.
Mahua with her son, daughter and husband Manik Gangopadhyay.
According to the vlog, Mahua and her family travelled from California to Halishhar in West Bengal after receiving the news. However, viewers reacted strongly after noticing that the camera continued recording throughout the mourning period. The video reportedly captured several emotional moments, including grieving family members and scenes from the funeral rites. The footage was later uploaded to YouTube as part of her vlog series.
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The post quickly drew criticism from a section of viewers who felt that such a deeply personal moment should not have been filmed and shared publicly.
Social media reactions trigger debate over ‘vlogging culture’
Mahua Gangopadhyay has gained a large number of followers with her daily vlogging content, where she shares her experiences of living abroad. Her content has given the audience an insight into the lives of people living in the United States of America.
The recent video of Mahua Gangopadhyay has raised the question of the line of demarcation between personal loss and content creation. The comments on the video were soon flooded with criticisms. Many people who watched the video criticised the content creator for filming the loss. Many people have argued that the loss is something personal, which should not be shared with the public.
At the start of her vlog, Mahua allegedly said that she considers her audience on her Probashey Ghorkonnar channel to be her family. She said that she wanted to inform her audience about what had happened. Mahua also said that she had been reluctant to record the incident but decided to go ahead and record it after being encouraged by some people around her. According to her, she intended to record it for her memory and not to create controversy.
Despite her reasons for recording and uploading the video, it has led to a larger debate on the pressures of social media visibility and how far vloggers can go in recording their personal lives.
