MANI'CUTIE' THE YOUTUBER | KAIROS GLOBAL | OCTOBER 2020

Intro: Meet a six-year-old lower primary student, Anora Therese Jinto fondly called Manikutty, from Aluva, South India. She shows us how God opens new doors in times of uncertainty and crisis, provided we trust in His grace and providence. Her YouTube channel “Manikutty’s World” has gone viral.

   Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. (Mathew 25:23)

           The parable of talents reminds us to use our God-given talents to its fullest but also warns us not to bury them. When talent in children meets timely intervention and proper guidance from elders, it creates wonders. This is exactly what happened in the case of Anora Therese Jinto, a successful child YouTuber, whose videos have become popular among children and their parents. Through her videos, she tells us that God will open new doors during times of uncertainty and crisis, provided we trust in His grace and providence.

Anora, fondly called Manikutty, is a class one student of Naipunnya Public School, Kochi. She is the daughter of Neethu and Jinto, two active Jesus Youth members from Aluva, South India.  

Like all the other kids, Anora’s expectations about a happy and happening vacation were shattered with the announcement of the nationwide lockdown on March 22. The child had no option but to stay indoors, bored and fatigued in front of different screens. The elders also were concerned about her lack of activity and enthusiasm. They knew that this could affect her mental and physical well-being and wanted to get her into action.  A gifted child, Anora had been dancing, painting and cooking from early childhood and has won various prizes. So her uncle, Nithin Jose took the initiative to start a YouTube channel for her where she could exhibit her talents!  The idea clicked well with Anora and she came up with lockdown challenges for kids, which quickly went viral.

She started her channel with a video encouraging kids to wash their plates after meals. It was followed by videos of stories, rhymes, action songs, recipes of delicious dishes and helping her mother with household chores. Now, she comes up with a different topic each day, and asks children to try it out. ‘Ever since she started the YouTube channel, she has been spending most of the time planning and preparing for her next videos. We are so glad to see that her screen time has reduced a lot after this and that it has diverted her attention from television and mobile phone,’ say Jinto and Neethu.

                She got her first 1,000 subscribers in 7 days and now has 6,500 subscribers with total views that have crossed 400,000. Manikutty has a talent and passion for elocution. On Independence Day, the speech taught by her grandmother got around 70,000+ views in a week and the Onam speech got 90,000+ views. So, Anora’s family began focusing more on speeches and they want to bring a positive change in her generation by infusing values and morals through her speeches. Now Anora shows her peers how to spread happiness and hope around them even in challenging situations. She is also excited to know that she inspired many of her friends and relatives to start their own YouTube channels. Through her channel, Manikutty demonstrates how faith and trust in God and in oneself amidst tough times turns challenges into new opportunities.