SocialWatch and Hunarshala founder and podcast host Sanwal reflects on a decade of building Chandigarh’s hyperlocal community, growing from a website in 2016 to over 2.5 lakh followers.
Chandigarh [India], November 6: Chandan Sanwal, founder of The Chandigarh Bytes (TCB), has marked ten years of the community brand he launched on 30 October 2016. What began as a Facebook page has grown into one of the Tricity’s most-followed hyperlocal media brands, with an estimated 1.5 billion views over the decade and a combined following of over 2.5 lakh across The Chandigarh Bytes network and Sanwal’s personal channels.
“Ten years ago, people told me I was wasting my time,” said Chandan Sanwal, Founder, The Chandigarh Bytes. “Friends laughed and said, ‘It’s just an Instagram page.’ That page became a brand Chandigarh calls its own.”
Sanwal has worked in internet marketing since 2011, when he started out as a professional blogger. He launched TCB across a website, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, before focusing on Instagram as the brand’s main platform.
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“We were the first in Chandigarh, and among the first in India, to do hyperlocal content,” Sanwal said. “We never chased followers or views. We made content that made people feel seen.”
Today, the TCB network spans The Chandigarh Bytes, Mohali Bytes and Panchkula Bytes, alongside Sanwal’s personal profile. Over the years, the brand has received recognition from the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
The brand’s most testing moment came in 2022, when its Instagram account was suspended. Its new profile crossed 20,000 followers within ten days.
“That’s when I knew people were following the value, not the account,” Sanwal said.
Sanwal has built his ventures around a single identity, TCB: The Chandigarh Bytes, the community brand; The Curious Bytes with Sanwal, his podcast; and the TCB Town Hall, a Think, Create and Build forum. The Town Hall has hosted three editions so far, covering content creation, startup investment, and digital marketing with e-commerce, finance and the startup ecosystem.
The Curious Bytes with Sanwal features conversations with leaders across industries. Guests have included actor and former Miss Universe Lara Dutta, Olympians Anjum Moudgil and Sarvjot Singh, former Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Gyan Chand Gupta.
Alongside TCB, Sanwal founded SocialWatch, a creative marketing agency, and Hunarshala, a digital skills education brand that partners with colleges to teach content creation and digital marketing.
Chandan Sanwal credited his team for the journey, with special thanks to Jagriti Pahwa and Shruti Girdhar, who joined along the way and helped build the foundation TCB still carries forward.
“When I look at these ten years, I don’t just see numbers. I see people, friendships and sacrifices,” Sanwal said. “And we’re only getting started.”
About Chandan Sanwal
Chandan Sanwal is a Chandigarh-based entrepreneur and digital marketer who has worked in internet marketing since 2011. He is the founder of The Chandigarh Bytes, SocialWatch and Hunarshala, and hosts the podcast The Curious Bytes with Sanwal.
About The Chandigarh Bytes
The Chandigarh Bytes (TCB) is a hyperlocal community media brand founded in 2016. Its network includes The Chandigarh Bytes, Mohali Bytes and Panchkula Bytes, and it runs the TCB Town Hall forum for founders and creators across the Tricity.
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