Know thy neighbourhood

Vyttila-native Sherin Paul starts around 6 am, when he sets off on his bicycle to different parts of Kochi with his GoPro camera. The 28-year-old is on a mission to discover some of the city’s most iconic spots through his YouTube channel ‘sherinz Vlog’.

The segment ‘Kochiyil TheraPara’ has aired 25 episodes so far, covering different parts of Kochi, including historical places, iconic shooting locations and houses of celebrities.

Sherin was working on another vlog when the lockdown was declared. So after the restrictions were relaxed, he started cycling through Kochi city. His Instagram stories soon became popular.

“Many started asking about the next day’s location. So I understood that many were loving my travel stories. That’s when I thought of doing vlogs under the name ‘Kochiyil TheraPara’. So with my friend’s GoPro and my bicycle, I started a show,” quips Sherin.

In the beginning, Sherin used to make a travel plan and shoot according to that. He used to find out pivotal spots at a location and plan the shoot.

“Many started sending suggestions regarding my next location. Most of them wanted to see the important shooting locations in Kochi and houses of celebrities. So, I started including those,” adds Sherin.

“People get very nostalgic seeing some of the shooting locations,” he adds. Sherin is an ardent traveller and quit his job to become a fulltime vlogger.

“I studied photography and editing. Vlogging is more like a passion to me. It allows me to travel as I wish. Simultaneously I shoot, edit and upload the videos,” says Sherin. Though he has been vlogging for three years, the ‘Kochiyil TheraPara’ segment gave his YouTube channel the two lakh plus subscribers it has now.

“I never saw the channel as a source of income. But now, it has started generating a decent revenue. Now, I own a GoPro 8,” he says. For his upcoming episodes, Sherin is planning to include areas like Fort Kochi, Vypin, Mattanchery, Cherai and Aluva.

“I was doing a series named ‘All Kerala Trip’ featuring tourist places of all districts before the lockdown. So the shooting will resume once the pandemic situation is over,” he says.

Inform Sherin about a good spot, on 8129989884.