It is probably impossible to not come across his page on Instagram. From celebrities to meme lovers on the gram, he has a strong 1.3 million follower base. The page, which is known as TedTheStoner, is popular among Instagrammers for its content which comprises memes, dog or cat adoption posts and other socially relevant posts about any current issue. His posts have been reposted and shared by Anushka Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shraddha Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha and Alia Bhatt, to name a few.
The page is a handled and run by Mumbai-based Jitendra Sharma, who started it as a Facebook page back in 2010. Going down memory lane, Sharma says, “The intent initially was just for random banter and laughs. We shifted to Instagram in 2014, and I do agree that somewhere down the line, the motive and intent shifted from random laughs to social good. When the page gained a decent number of followers, I realised that a lot more can be done apart from the posting usual funny content. I could connect people to each other on my platform in life and death situations, blood donation requests, adoption requests, etc.”
Though his identity is not a secret, he used to appear with a teddy mask on events. Ask him if there is a story or significance behind this, and the 26-year-old says, “The concept of the mask was very random. I got the mask made for an event and the audience really loved the concept. So, I think the mask would be used for a lot more content in the fairly distant future.”
{{/usCountry}}Though his identity is not a secret, he used to appear with a teddy mask on events. Ask him if there is a story or significance behind this, and the 26-year-old says, “The concept of the mask was very random. I got the mask made for an event and the audience really loved the concept. So, I think the mask would be used for a lot more content in the fairly distant future.”
{{/usCountry}}Sharma, through his page, has helped dogs and cats to be adopted across the country. Speaking about how he thought of starting this, he says, “The adoptions on our page started with a request to put up a story for a lost pet. The pet was reunited with its family a few hours after we posted it. If a lost pet could find it’s home again, through my page, I thought it is possible to find loving homes for adopted pets, too. As of now, we have helped more than 8,500 dogs and 1,500 cats find a new home.”
Though he has helped a lot of pets to find a new home, Sharma specially remembers one particular adoption that happened. “We had a one-legged dog on our page that wasn’t getting adopted. I had to put up a story for him thrice. Later, when he was finally adopted by a family, they sent me a picture of the dog and their specially-abled son, who had lost his legs in a train accident a few years ago. It was the son who chose the dog. I guess they are both having the best of days now,” he concludes.