Nikita Gupta Interview
Q. For those discovering you for the first time, how would you describe your journey from being an MBA graduate and working with Sony LIV to becoming a digital creator exploring India’s culture, history, and stories?
My journey has really been a combination of marketing, storytelling, and curiosity.
I started out with a background in commerce and then pursued my MBA in Marketing from NMIMS Mumbai, including an exchange at Grenoble Ecole de Management in France.
Working in entertainment taught me something especially important: people may remember a campaign, but what they really remember is a delightful story.
Over time, I realised that I wanted to tell stories that went beyond products, shows, or campaigns. I was increasingly fascinated by India's own stories, our traditions, crafts, architecture, fashion, food, cinema, and the histories hiding in places we often walk past without noticing.
That curiosity eventually became The Culture Gully, an independent digital arts and culture platform where I could explore India on my own terms.
What started as a passion project has now grown into a full-fledged media venture, with a community of over 300,000 recurring readers, 100,000+ monthly website visitors, and 15M+ monthly impressions. But for me, the most exciting part is still the same: finding a story that makes someone say, "I never knew this about India."
Q. You describe yourself as someone exploring the "unexplored India." What sparked your curiosity to go beyond the usual destinations and bring lesser-known stories to your audience?
The idea of "unexplored India" came from realising that we often define India through an exceedingly small set of familiar stories.
We know the Taj Mahal, Jaipur, Kerala, Goa, and the big festivals. But India is so much larger than the places that make it to every travel list.
There are centuries-old crafts surviving in tiny towns, wedding traditions that change every few kilometres, forgotten architectural marvels, regional textiles, unusual food traditions, and stories behind everyday things that we simply take for granted.
And I find those stories far more fascinating.
For me, exploring the "unexplored" does not necessarily mean travelling to a place nobody has ever visited. Sometimes it means looking at a familiar place, object, or tradition differently.
That is what I try to do with Culture Gully: make people pause and look at something they may have seen a hundred times and think, "Wait, there’s a story behind this?"
I also believe that discovering India does not always require a passport or an expensive itinerary. Sometimes, it just requires curiosity.
Q. Your content spans culture, fashion, history, and cinema. How do you research and decide which stories are worth sharing with your audience?
The first filter is always curiosity. If a story makes me stop and think, "How did I not know this?," there is a good chance our audience will feel the same.
But curiosity alone is not enough. I look for stories that have either cultural relevance, historical depth, a surprising insight, or a strong visual element.
Research is a big part of the process. Depending on the story, I go through books, archival material, credible publications, museum and institutional sources, historical references, and conversations with people who have a direct connection with the tradition or subject.
I also try to cross-check information because when you are talking about history and culture, there can be several versions of the same story.
Then comes the storytelling part, because having information is quite different from having a story.
I ask myself: What is the one thing I want someone to remember after watching this?
If I can turn a piece of history or cultural knowledge into something that feels relevant to someone's life today, that is usually a story I want to tell.
Q. You have worked in marketing and have also built a strong digital community of 421K+ followers. How has your professional background influenced the way you approach content creation?
My marketing background has probably influenced my content creation more than I initially realised.
Marketing teaches you to understand people, what catches their attention, what makes them curious, what makes them stay, and, most importantly, what makes them care.
At Sony LIV, I worked on brand building, marketing, and integrations for large entertainment properties. That taught me how to take a story or a piece of content and think about it from multiple perspectives: the audience, the brand, and the platform.
I carry that thinking into Culture Gully today.
I don't look at content only as, "Is this a good story?" I also ask: Who is this for? Why would they care? What is the hook? How do we make it discoverable? And how can we tell it without losing the authenticity of the story?
Building Culture Gully has also taught me the other side of the equation: that a media platform is a business. I have had to think about audience growth, SEO, distribution, partnerships, monetisation, and team building alongside creativity.
So, my biggest advantage is being able to sit at the intersection of storytelling and strategy.
Q. You have also been a TEDx speaker. What has creating content and interacting with such a large audience taught you about storytelling and connecting with people?
The biggest lesson has been that people do not connect with perfection. They connect with something that feels real.
When you create content consistently, you start seeing patterns in what people respond to. But you also realise that the content that performs the best is not always the content you expected.
I have learnt that a delightful story does not need to be complicated. Sometimes one extremely specific detail, one personal observation, or one unexpected fact can make an entire story memorable.
Creating for a large audience has also made me more conscious of the responsibility that comes with storytelling, especially when you are talking about culture and history. There are real people, communities, and traditions behind the stories we tell.
And TEDx taught me something slightly different: when you do not have a reel, an edit, music, or visuals to rely on, you realise how powerful a simple story, a voice, and a point of view can be.
Ultimately, whether it is a 30-second reel or a stage, the principle is the same: make people feel something, make them curious, and give them a reason to remember you.
Q. For someone who wants to start creating content but is held back by self-doubt or the fear of being judged, what would you tell them?
Start before you feel ready.
I think one of the biggest misconceptions about content creation is that everyone else knows exactly what they are doing. They do not. Most creators are figuring it out as they go.
When I started, I also had moments of wondering whether people would care, whether the content was good enough, or whether I was putting myself out there too much.
But the truth is, you cannot build anything while constantly trying to avoid being judged.
People will have opinions whether you create or do not create. So, you might as well create something you are proud of.
I would also say do not start by obsessing over followers or virality. Start by asking yourself: What do I have to say that I genuinely care about?
The first few pieces may not perform. That is okay. You are not failing; you are learning.
And eventually, you realise that the fear of being judged is usually much bigger in your head than it is in reality.
Your first job is not to become a successful creator. Your first job is simply to become a creator.
Q. Fun one to end with: If you could take your followers on a spontaneous trip to any one unexplored place in India tomorrow, where would you take them and what would you make them experience first?
I would probably take them to Majuli in Assam.
It is one of those places where the journey itself feels like you are slowly entering another world. But what fascinates me most about Majuli is not just the landscape; it is its living culture.
I would want my followers to experience the Sattriya and Satra traditions first, the monasteries, the art, the music, the masks, and the communities that have kept these traditions alive for generations.
And then I would want to spend time with the local artisans and understand how these traditions exist in everyday life rather than simply seeing them as something preserved for tourists.
That is the kind of travel I love most: when you don't just visit a place but leave understanding a little more about why it is the way it is.
And, of course, I would probably end the day eating something local and asking everyone what story we should uncover next!
Bio
Nikita Gupta is the founder of The Culture Gully, an independent digital arts and culture media platform exploring India through its history, traditions, fashion, art, cinema, and untold stories.
Interviewed By Ritika Tawar
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