Meet Reetu Slathia, Homemaker Turned Gamer With Over 3.5 Lakh Followers

While many homemakers fell prey to never-ending household chores, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jammu and Kashmir-based Reetu Slathia found her calling in gaming and soon turned her passion into a profession. Contrary to the common belief that gaming is a male-dominated arena, a pan-India survey has revealed a significant shift in the landscape. According to the Lumikai Gaming Report, a comprehensive study involving 2,317 participants from diverse backgrounds, women now constitute a remarkable 41% of India's gaming community.

Breaking stereotypes, Slathia took up gaming as a career in her 40s as she found joy and independence in online gaming. The 44-year-old homemaker was introduced to online gaming by her son. Initially, she began playing only as a diversion during the lockdown but soon became a professional gamer.

Known as "Blackbird" in the gaming world, Slathia has over 3.5 lakh followers on the gaming platform Rooter. She makes over Rs. 1 lakh a year.

Homemaker Becomes Professional Gamer

Every morning, Slathia completes her daily pooja, cooks, and cleans the house before sitting down in front of the computer at 8 am. She revealed that game chat rooms are her favourite place to talk to people from various backgrounds. Slathia plays for three to four hours.

Slathia explained that, though she might not be making a huge amount, taking up gaming as a career has given her confidence and courage.

Slathia could not pursue education beyond the 12th grade because her family did not want to send her to college. She was only taught to be a good wife, homemaker, and mother all her life.

She got married at the age of 20 and has been married for 25 years now. She shared that she has no complaints and that her husband and family have been kind to her. Taking care of the family has become her only way of life, and earning money and being financially independent were never on her radar.

Slathia shared how she was intrigued by her son playing online games. She used to watch him play but was too shy to ask for a chance. Then, in 2019, she finally told her son, who is also her best friend, that she also wanted to play. He immediately agreed to teach her, and that’s how her gaming journey began.

It took some time for her to understand the game and get accustomed to the keys to play with, but she was a quick learner. Her curiosity let her try gaming, and she expressed that she was having fun.

A year later, she was introduced to the concept of interacting with people while live-streaming by her son. The fun multiplied as many kids of her son’s age and even younger kids joined in and even followed her.

As a person who spent a large part of her life taking care of the family and not really socialising, this was a unique experience.

Initially, there were doubts and insecurities. People were sceptical about online gaming and live streaming. But now she proudly tells them that she is earning money through gaming. Her friends have also started playing games, and they also watch her live streaming.

Slathia plays games like BGMI, Clash of Clans, Free Fire and more. She also runs a YouTube channel where she posts videos of her playing different games. Through the gaming platform, she earns nearly Rs 15,000- Rs 20,000 a month. 

Even while people were critical of her, her son and husband were her biggest cheerleaders. They took over household chores so that she could play. Slathia plans to try out new games and create content that her followers will enjoy.