Indian Brave caster Kavya "Zahk" Karthikeyan wrote a long farewell message in a tweet sharing her negative experiences working as a female caster in India.
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Professional Indian Brave caster Kavya “Zahk” Karthikeyan wrote a long farewell message in a tweet sharing her negative experiences working as a female caster in India. She discussed challenges with Indian tournament organizers (TOs), including processing payments, gender pay gap, sexism, and more. Zahak also mentioned that these issues were a major factor in his decision to stop working in India.Zahhq talks about the gender pay gap, sexism and more in the Indian Valorant eSports ecosystem.If you need more information about Indian Valorant Caster Details Challenges, Discrimination Faced in the Scene then read carefully and don’t forget to share with your friends.
According to Zahk, TeOs horribly exploit new artists by paying them less. “The first gig I got, I was expected to play six games a day, nine games on Sundays, almost daily. For this, I was offered ₹12k INR ($145 USD) a month. People Told me that I should be grateful for what I got they started working for free but it’s not fair. At the end of the day, someone is still working for you, and risk paying the bills doesn’t,” she said.
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Zahhq claimed that Teo also does not pay his Casters on time, and that Caster has to contact Teo several times to clear the dues. “They don’t respond, don’t take calls, and pay only after months. I still haven’t been paid for a program I did in August for a particular TO, and that’s a very negligible amount (₹5k<). I have contacted the TO several times and only after asking twice I get a reply saying that it has not even been processed internally.”she added. “I had many caster friends who had to suffer because of non-payment for months.”
Next, Zahhq talks about the double standards and sexism he faced during his coaster journey. “As a woman, my clothing choices are far more critiqued and polished than others. At a recent gig, I was told that the attire was formal. I wore a collared shirt over a T-shirt. My male co-star was wearing a casual T-shirt, also without a collar. I was asked to wear something more formal/button up to the collar. My co-star received no comments or similar responses.She revealed that she was told to “shut up” when she told this.
Zahak also talked about the unfair pay scale and gender pay gap that she faced. “After some experience with the VCT APAC GC (Valorant Champions Tour: Game Changers Asia-Pacific), I was hired for an event at ₹500 per map and told that was the budget for the event and that was all Could have done It was less than a quarter of what I usually get overseas, but I was fine working with Teo because it was a women’s program, which typically has a lower budget.I came to know that they were paying my co-star double that.
Thereafter, she added that the next time she worked with the same TO, her co-star was earning ₹1.2k while she was making ₹600. “I have been consistently low balled by TO’s and only hired at extremely low prices,” she said. “My male co-stars have consistently gotten 2x to 3x times what I’ve gotten, if not more. Valorant casting guys with less experience who only read killfeed get more cause they’re friends with Teo Huh.She mentioned that this is one of the main reasons why she stopped working in India and went abroad.
Zahk said that many tournament organizers in India employ their friends as casters, even if they are not knowledgeable about the game or their streaming quality is poor and there are delays. I am not saying that people should be perfect but at least talk about it? I speak candidly about my experiences in some incidents that got me blacklisted despite my skills and experience. Not to mention the incredible amount of hate and harassment online,” she said.
Subsequently, she said that a TO blocked her from her Instagram account because she pointed out the poor quality of an event. “(TO) despite me being hired again (again at lower rates), it refused to unblock me.” “After working for a year and a half in India, and six months in NA/SEA, I can see the difference. Before I had opportunities abroad, I was always under a lot of stress trying to find and do work here. Dealing with constant deductions and favoritism is painful.
Perhaps India doesn’t have to stoop to the level of these people, but a basic semblance of decency is necessary,” Jahak said. In conclusion, Zahhak appeals to all TOs to pay artistes at fair rates and on time, treat all talents equally, when it comes to dress, accept the event instead of hating those which actually indicate it.After working as a Valorant caster in India for over a year, Zahhq is moving to Europe for better work opportunities.
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