This monday, Mohit Rajgaria aka SuperMaD completed 5 years as a streamer. Along the way, he has made it to the front page of Twitch, played endless games and has touched the lives of thousands of gamers both Indian and international. Being almost as old as us in the industry, we figured it might be a good time to check up with him and ask him about the journey that got him there.

EXCERPTS

IndianNoob: Let us get to know you a bit better. Give our readers a brief summary of yourself and why it is that you do what you do.

SuperMad: Hey beautiful people, I am Mohit Rajgaria, commonly known as SuperMaD in the gaming community. I am a 34-year-old Software Engineer by Profession, a Streamer, Gamer and Shout Caster by Choice and Passion, Singer and Photographer by Interest.

IN: Give us some anecdotes about what skill set is required to be a great streamer. How can the still-young Indian crowd achieve it and most importantly, how you developed it?

SM: There is no particular skill set required to be good in streaming. Streaming is all about delivering good content LIVE. It can be either playing games or doing IRL (In real life) stuff like singing, dancing, cooking, chatting, roaming around, etc. You can choose any activity you like to showcase and if you deliver good content, you are good to go.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4tjp_2HWAF/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I would also like to clear out one big misconception in streaming games. If you are streaming a game, it is not required for you to be super good in that game. If you are entertaining, trust me it works like a charm. But at the same time the most important thing is to have your stream presentable. If someone tunes in to your stream, they should feel good. The audio, overlays, stream quality are the basic but MOST important entities to make your stream look and feel good to people. The other important things your stream should have is Engagement with viewers and the CONTENT you are creating. If you have all these intact, viewers will surely love your streams and stick to them.

Also, there should be a proper schedule for your streams. The viewers should know that at this time of the day, their favorite streamer(you) goes live and wait for you to go live. Coming to the point on how I developed the skillset. Back when I started as a novice, I have always strived to improve my content which I am still doing coz learning never stops. I always observe great content creators and get inspired by them. Observing and Learning from someone better than you is never bad.

IN: Tell us about how you were able to carve out a successful career in the Indian gaming industry.

SM: Being patient and having a “I won’t give up” attitude always helps. As you know, I have been streaming for the last 5 years now and trust me I have seen good amount of time where no one knew about me and the only viewer on my channel was me. After every stream I used to question myself that why even I am streaming for no one. The next moment I would get the answer as well “It will definitely work out someday, keep grinding.” So, yeah, Grinding helped me a lot. But again, only grinding doesn’t help. PR (public relations), right amount Promotions and a little bit of Luck are also some important factors. Don’t lose hope as someday you will shine for sure.

IN: Do you think it is better to capture the regional market, or is it still better to stream in English?

SM: India is a diverse country where there are so many different languages and everyone cannot understand every other language. It completely depends on the content creator on what kind of audience they are targeting. Choosing a niche language can do wonders for you but it restricts you from reaching everyone. If you ask me, I would choose a mix of languages I know like Hindi, English, Bengali, a bit of Punjabi as well to stream so that I can connect with multiple people.

IN: You have a full-time job. How do you manage to find a balance between work and streaming?

SM: The only important thing which is needed to balance out everything is following a strict routine. You have to follow it religiously without having cheat days. My weekday routine would be waking up by 8:30 AM, reaching the office by 11 AM, coming back by 9 PM, having dinner and spending time with my wife for the next one and a half hours and then start stream by 10:30 PM. Weekends, I don’t touch my PC at all and dedicate my complete time to my family.

IN: While streaming, how do you find the middle line between streaming what you like and streaming what the viewers want?

SM: I find the whole idea of streaming a particular game for only getting viewers completely wrong. We should build such an audience who should be on your stream for you and not for the game you are playing. I love doing multiple stuff on my stream. I play different games, sing, dance and talk to my viewers and I am really thankful to my viewers that they watch me in spite of what I am doing.

Minde Games | 4K 😎

Just do it ✔️ https://t.co/QeOGA2OygS#CSGOMoments #CSGO #CSGOclips #twitch #twitchindia #twitchstreamer #streamerforlife #twitchpartner #twitchclips #streamhighlight #madsquad #madfam #clutch #gestudios #GlobalEsports #Nike #justdoit pic.twitter.com/aabqaLyamh

— Mohit Rajgaria (@supermadgg) November 7, 2019

IN: Throughout your journey, were you ever pressured to switch careers since it’s still a niche, kind of stigmatic market in India?

SM: Your passion which you want to make your ‘Career’ is where you are spending hours while either not earning at all or not earning much and its always considered a time waste. Yes, I have definitely been asked multiple times to stop following my passion and focussing only on something which is stable which is my job. But with time when I proved myself that I am capable of doing multiple things simultaneously and maintaining work/life/passion balance, people who asked me to stop and questions in their mind started admiring and appreciating what I am doing and now they aspire to become like me, looking out for suggestions on how to follow their passion and this makes me so happy that I was able to transform others understanding that following your passion gives you the most important thing “Happiness”.

IN: How do you feel to be part of an organization which has done quite some work for the local esports scene, going so far as to launch an educational degree for the same?

SM: I always wanted to work independently and I had never imagined myself to be a part of any organization ever but honestly, seeing what Global Esports is doing for the esports scene in India and their future plans to expand Indian scene globally makes me feel proud that I am part of it and I made the right decision in my gaming career saying Yes to them.

Talking about the educational degree while being recognized as a gamer is a very important change that every gamer needed in the country. Harrisburg University of Science and Technology is a prestigious STEM University and is already partnered with Mumbai University. In partnership will Global Esports they are bringing access to Indian students to come and study in any subject of their choice at HU in the USA. GE will also award students scholarships to have them play on Harrisburg esports team (HU Storm) they currently only have Overwatch and League of Legends but will be adding more soon.

The second aspect of the partnership entails Bachelors and Masters’s of esports management which will teach all the aspects of the esports industry and give you a formal education if you want to work in esports.

IN: What are some of your favorite video games? Titles you grew up on and still feel strongly towards?

SM: I play different games but the games I really love are CS:GO, Overwatch, R6, PUBG, Fortnite, Apex Legends and Quake Champions due to their competitive spirit which stays throughout the game.

IN: Do video games appeal more to you as a form off mass entertainment (aka E- sports) or are you interested in the artistic/narrative potential of them as well?

SM: Yes, indeed and that is what we can see now, isn’t it? Esports is something that has changed the face of gaming. Back then, we just use to play video games for fun and it was actually meant only for leisure. There was no competitiveness, no urge of doing the best from others. But now, it’s a sport where players are getting recognized as an athlete. They are getting awarded, they are getting paid, they are stars now having a great fan following and people are crazy about meeting them and having a picture with them.

But this is not where it is going to stop. It’s growing and it’s growing exponentially. Gaming is one of the largest industries in the world and it has just stepped in India. We are going to see major developments in gaming in the near future in our country.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4B5UwxjsYz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

IN:  What are your opinions on the various platforms for gaming available in the Indian market?

SM: See, I am PC gamer so we are not talking about any platforms as PC Master Race. Haha, just kidding. Honestly, I have been a fan of games since childhood and I have grown up playing video games on those small gaming consoles where we used to put in a cassette and I never felt bad or had any bad experience with it. I would still say that I love gaming on the PCs the most and there is a good reason behind it. I have been playing on a desktop for more than 15 years now.

But, talking about the currently available gaming platforms, gaming on mobile is huge in India. Everyone might not afford a PC setup or might not justify one to their parents/guardians but most of them can afford/justify getting a smartphone easily and play games on it. Mobile gaming has changed the meaning of gaming in India. Things we PC gamers always tried to make people understand about gaming and no one understood mobile gaming in India is doing that. There are so many huge tournaments happening in India now and they are getting covered on Television as well and everyone now (not everyone I should say) is okay with people playing games. I would still want the PC gamers to get the same kind of recognition in India as well
though.

IN: Lastly, leave a few encouraging words of wisdom for some of our younger, passionate and ambitious readers, who may feel the same way you did at their age.

SM: I follow one quote by Jim Rohn religiously in my life. “If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.”

It was a tough road for me to keep up with Job/Family/Gaming/Streaming/Sleeping and I could have easily given up saying that I don’t get time after my job to play games or stream. But I made a point to myself that everyone has the same 24hrs what I have and if I have to do something, I have to manage my time. I was sure what my goals are and I just had to manage my path towards it. I would just request everyone reading this is to NOT Give Up ever in your life in whatever you are doing-especially while persuading your passions as Passion >> Fear.

You can find Mohit aKa SuperMad using the links below. GO say Hi and tell him that IN sent you.

SuperMad ON:

Twitch || Facebook || Instagram || Twitter || YouTube