Madri Kakoti’s lessons on English language are a hit on social media, but there’s more to them than what meets the eye.

Kakoti is a teacher of linguistics who has previously taught English as a second language at the Linguistic Empowerment Cell at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. Her video series, the “Neighbourhood Teacher”, is an amalgamation of her love for the language, her instinct to give back to the community, and her desire to express her feelings about the socio-political atmosphere in the country.

“The right to democratic dissent has been thrown out and anti-national and sedition charges are handed out like laddoos on Independence Day,” Kakoti told Scroll.in. “I wanted my vocation of being a teacher and empowering the next generation nit to be limited to linguistics. I wanted to show that the truth will be said, one way or another,” she added.

So far, Kakoti has touched upon topics like migrant deaths owing to the exodus during the lockdown, resort politics, Covid-19 cases in India, and the Rhea Chakraborty case, among others.