/images/ppid_59c68470-image-178964002166278689.webp)
What is the story about?
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay’s brief interaction with a woman in London went viral on social media after he told her, “I have seen your videos.” The woman was identified as Priyadharshini Sakthivel, popularly known on social media as ‘Dharshini London Diaries’.
She regularly documents life in London, with a particular focus on the experiences of Tamils and Indians living there.
Originally from Avadi in Chennai, Priyadharshini worked in the IT sector before moving to London for work. While adjusting to life in a new country and being away from her family, she began documenting her experiences on social media.
Her videos feature London landmarks, Indian shops, temples, restaurants, cultural events and the everyday lives of Tamil and Indian families living there. However, her content goes beyond conventional London travel videos.
She often presents London from the perspective of someone from Tamil Nadu, highlighting familiar Indian experiences and drawing comparisons between London and Chennai.
Also Read: Tamil Nadu CM Vijay's UK tour secures ₹15,300 crore investments
She has showcased places such as London’s Little India while comparing them with Chennai’s T. Nagar, besides highlighting Tamil food, clothing, temples, traditions and cultural events. Her focus is on showing audiences in India that, despite being thousands of kilometres away, a familiar world of Indian and Tamil culture continues to exist in London.
In an interaction with News18 Tamil, Priyadharshini explained that her approach to social media is more about connecting with people than simply sharing information.
“I believe social media success is not just about sharing information, but also about how we present it to people. I naturally enjoy interacting with people, and that has helped me build friendships and close relationships with many families here. I never started social media with the intention of gaining followers. The audience grew organically over time,” she said.
“For me, the most interesting part is showing people that even though we are in London, there is still a familiar world of Indian food, clothing, temples, families and culture around us. I think that connection is what made people relate to my content,” she added.
Dharshini continues to work as an IT professional and does not treat content creation as her profession. She creates videos primarily out of passion and her interest in travelling, meeting people and sharing her experiences. She mainly focuses on short-form videos, particularly YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and therefore does not earn substantial income from YouTube despite having a large subscriber base.
She has around 5.65 lakh followers on Instagram, 4 lakh followers on Facebook and more than 1.15 million subscribers on YouTube. On Facebook and Instagram, she earns through brand collaborations. However, the income from collaborations does not necessarily cover the expenses involved in producing her travel content.
In many cases, she spends her own money on travelling to different locations and creating videos. Therefore, despite having a large online following, financial gain is not the primary reason she continues creating content. For her, it remains a passion.
Also Read: When ‘CM Vijay’ called a Bengaluru guard with ₹11 lakh offer, he lost ₹1 lakh instead
One of the recent occasions that brought Dharshini into the spotlight was her visit to Silverstone to watch actor Ajith Kumar’s racing event. Vijay had also travelled to Silverstone to support Ajith during the racing event. However, her journey began long before that brief interaction.
Through her videos, she has gradually built an audience by showing how Tamil and Indian culture continues to thrive in London. From food and temples to families, traditions, shopping and everyday life, Dharshini’s content offers viewers in India a glimpse of London through a distinctly Tamil and Indian perspective.
She regularly documents life in London, with a particular focus on the experiences of Tamils and Indians living there.
Originally from Avadi in Chennai, Priyadharshini worked in the IT sector before moving to London for work. While adjusting to life in a new country and being away from her family, she began documenting her experiences on social media.
Her videos feature London landmarks, Indian shops, temples, restaurants, cultural events and the everyday lives of Tamil and Indian families living there. However, her content goes beyond conventional London travel videos.
She often presents London from the perspective of someone from Tamil Nadu, highlighting familiar Indian experiences and drawing comparisons between London and Chennai.
Also Read: Tamil Nadu CM Vijay's UK tour secures ₹15,300 crore investments
She has showcased places such as London’s Little India while comparing them with Chennai’s T. Nagar, besides highlighting Tamil food, clothing, temples, traditions and cultural events. Her focus is on showing audiences in India that, despite being thousands of kilometres away, a familiar world of Indian and Tamil culture continues to exist in London.
In an interaction with News18 Tamil, Priyadharshini explained that her approach to social media is more about connecting with people than simply sharing information.
“I believe social media success is not just about sharing information, but also about how we present it to people. I naturally enjoy interacting with people, and that has helped me build friendships and close relationships with many families here. I never started social media with the intention of gaining followers. The audience grew organically over time,” she said.
“For me, the most interesting part is showing people that even though we are in London, there is still a familiar world of Indian food, clothing, temples, families and culture around us. I think that connection is what made people relate to my content,” she added.
Dharshini continues to work as an IT professional and does not treat content creation as her profession. She creates videos primarily out of passion and her interest in travelling, meeting people and sharing her experiences. She mainly focuses on short-form videos, particularly YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and therefore does not earn substantial income from YouTube despite having a large subscriber base.
She has around 5.65 lakh followers on Instagram, 4 lakh followers on Facebook and more than 1.15 million subscribers on YouTube. On Facebook and Instagram, she earns through brand collaborations. However, the income from collaborations does not necessarily cover the expenses involved in producing her travel content.
In many cases, she spends her own money on travelling to different locations and creating videos. Therefore, despite having a large online following, financial gain is not the primary reason she continues creating content. For her, it remains a passion.
Also Read: When ‘CM Vijay’ called a Bengaluru guard with ₹11 lakh offer, he lost ₹1 lakh instead
One of the recent occasions that brought Dharshini into the spotlight was her visit to Silverstone to watch actor Ajith Kumar’s racing event. Vijay had also travelled to Silverstone to support Ajith during the racing event. However, her journey began long before that brief interaction.
Through her videos, she has gradually built an audience by showing how Tamil and Indian culture continues to thrive in London. From food and temples to families, traditions, shopping and everyday life, Dharshini’s content offers viewers in India a glimpse of London through a distinctly Tamil and Indian perspective.
/images/ppid_59c68470-image-17896150614415770.webp)
/images/ppid_59c68470-image-178963503130893530.webp)