Kerala’s pride and Kochi’s own Little Chef Kicha (Nihal Raj) aged 7 is again in the news. This time around, he just won the “Yono SBI 20 Under 20” in the Social Media Influencer category. “Yono Under 20” envisaged by the State Bank of India Group intending to identify talented youngsters who have honed their outstanding skills for enabling positive social change.

Kochi’s success story is prodigious in the sense that it all began when he was just 4 years of age It was then that he started his hugely popular Kichatube HD YouTube channel, with a 30,000 plus subscriber base now! Over and above being the youngest chef in India, Kicha’s channel presentations of his recipes continue to be as delectable as the dishes he creates.

At the tender age of 5, Kicha appeared on popular US TV talk show “De Ellen Degeneras Show” detailing the procedure of making Kerala’s world-famous breakfast item, “Puttu”. He even went a step ahead by tutoring Ms Ellen, the intricacies of conjuring up Puttu while the show progressed excitingly.

Soon, he was invited to be a part of the renowned TV Show “Little Big Shots” at destinations as far and diverse as the US, UK and Vietnam. In the “Yono SBI 20 Under 20” Kicha polled a whopping 1.4 lakh votes to become the winner in the Social Media Influencer category, along with60 others in various other categories as well. Bollywood actor Dia Mirza, Author and Journalist Boria Mazumdar, Microsoft India’s head-honcho Sasi Sasidharan, NPCI CEO Dilip Azbe and social media influencer Mallika Dua were the judges on the panel who zeroed in on the final 20 winners. On 3rd February, Kicha along with 19 others were honoured in a grand ceremony organized at Bangalore. In the picture alongside, Kicha shares photo space with Actor Arjun Kapoor and Mallika Dua.