Set in the heart of Kaushambi district of Uttar Pradesh lives a woman with high dreams. Where rural fields consume most of the time of villagers and digital influences are still blooming, Yashoda Lodhi, also known online as “English with Dehati Madam” is giving most educated English teachers a run for their money! The farmer woman is today influencing thousands of people to overcome their fear and learn English from the soil of her own village. Let’s find out more about this influencer who is breaking stereotypes with words:Humble beginning of viral Dehati MadamIn her profile description on YouTube, Yashoda describes herself as:“I’m Yashoda and I belong to the lower middle class family familyI’m from Uttar Pradesh….I have opened this channel for the people who wants to learn English in easy way.Basically the students , women from our villages are in great need of this type of classesWho teaches them in easy way….”So Yashoda is a homemaker who lives in Sirathu. She is a 12th pass from a Hindi-medium school. Like many other women in the village, Yashodha’s life was also defined by daily house works. She is also taking care of her husband and kid. Back in 2021, with the help of a smartphone, she wrote her destiny. The phone offered her a window into a new world and after her one video went viral, she never turned her back. Yashoda started watching English speaking videos on YouTube. She would listen with earbuds even while doing housework. She would make content and share on her social media but those didn’t get her much attention. But after practising fluency in English for hours, she made a video and her idea clicked. The video went viral. And then she decided to make English accessible to people who, like her, were living in rural India.Yoshoda’s unusual classroom There are many reels on her Instagram and YouTube. The videos are incredible not because she is speaking polished or very professional English, but because they are authentic. Her classroom is not with blackboards and desks, but her classroom is open land where she can be seen performing her duties as a farmer along with explaining the process in fluent English. Draped in a simple saree, Yashoda classrooms are mud courtyards, open fields, and her humble village house. In some of her viral clips, she takes everyday moments like harvesting vegetables, with her little girl, celebrating with her family, and sometimes performing household chores and turns them into lessons in vocabulary and English conversation. She breaks down heavy words, explains in simple words, and does so with a warmth that people connect with her immediately.She has over 175K followers on her Instagram profile.More than EnglishYashoda is here with a mission. But what sets her apart is the fact that she doesn’t call herself a teacher, but a learner. In one heartfelt message, she tells her audience that English doesn’t need to be feared.Netizens have been kind to her and encouraged her with their comments. People are touched by her simplicity and confidence. Some said, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” some said:Kisaan❌Farmer✅She started her YouTube channel English with the name ‘Dehati Madam’ in 2022. Since then, she has made hundreds of videos and has some 300,000 subscribers. The views are in millions on most of her videos. But remember, Yashoda’s success is not about her number of followers and likes, but in the confidence she instills in people, in rural women like her, with her acquired skill.
