From housewife to professional gamer earning lakhs: Meet Reetu Slathia, Jammu woman with massive fan following

Online gaming has become popular in recent times, especially since the Covid lockdown. It is popular among youth who play various games. But you will hardly find any gamers in India who are in their 40s. But today we will tell you about a woman, a homemaker, who started gaming during lockdown but later turned it into a full-time profession.

She is Reetu Slathia, a woman gamer and YouTuber from Jammu. Her gamer son introduced her to online games during the first Covid lockdown in 2020. The 45-year-old loves to interact with people from different places in the game lobby, she told The Better India. 

She has chosen a career that is seldom taken by women in India. But she ignored stereotypes to find joy and independence in online gaming that too in her 40s. In October 2021, she started playing for a live-streaming gaming portal. After a year, she also started her own YouTube gaming channel. 

Reetu is officially known as ‘Blackbird’. She has over 3.5 lakh followers on the streaming and gaming platform Rooter. She earns Rs 1.2 lakh annually. “While the money might seem less, the amount of confidence and courage it has given me is unmatchable. I love to interact with people from different places in the game lobby. It is empowering,” she told The Better India. 

 After her daily house chores every day, she plays online games for 3-4 hours. She sits in front of her computer screen. She was always fond of playing games such as Ludo and candy crush. But later her son introduced her to online gaming which she eventually turned into her professional career.

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