Tea with Bill Gates, Ambani’s wedding, chess glory and other viral moments from India 2024.
From entertaining viral videos and celebrating Indian sporting glory to moments that made us shake our heads in wonder – the year 2024 had all that and more to offer on Indian social media.
Here are some of the most memorable moments that we have selected for you.
Month-long Ambani wedding
Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani and his family have captivated the world for several months lavish celebrations for the wedding of his son Anant.
The extravagance was the first thing that caught people’s eye in March when some of the most influential people of the world started coming to India to attend the pre-wedding event. The star of that show was pop star Rihanna, whose performance this was her first event in India.
Over the next few months, the Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and Justin Bieber performed at various events leading up to the wedding.
The guests were Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, Bill Gates, Kim Kardashian, actor John Cena, former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson, Samsung chairman Jay Y Lee and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan among hundreds of others.
Bill Gates tea with Dolly Chaiwala
Dolly Chaiwala, a tea seller from the state of Maharashtra, has gone viral on the internet after serving a cup of tea to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
The tea seller was already known for his flamboyant social media presence and unique style of serving tea.
Gates video currently has more than 176 million views on his official Instagram page.
“In India, you can find innovation everywhere you turn – even in the preparation of an ordinary cup of tea,” he wrote.
Dolly Chaiwala later told news agency ANI that he did not know he had served tea to the tech billionaire.
“I wasn’t aware of it at all. I thought it was a guy from a foreign country and I had to serve him tea,” he said.
When Tendulkar saw the new bowling star on the Internet
Sushila Meena, a 10-year-old girl from the small tribal hamlet of Ramer Talab in the northern state of Rajasthan, went viral on social media this month after cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar shared a video of her bowling on Xu, formerly Twitter.
The video of the young girl, originally shared on Instagram by her school teacher, shows her bowling in slow motion on a makeshift cricket pitch in her village.
Tendulkar shared the video, commenting that her bowling was “smooth, effortless and beautiful to watch!” He also said that Meena has “shades” of former Indian bowler Zahir Khan.
Khan immediately agreed. Several former cricketers have now come forward to help her achieve her dream of playing for India.
Indian Junior Chess Champion
India celebrated as Gukesh Dommaraju defeated Chinese Ding Liren will become the youngest world chess champion this month.
18-year-old Dommaraju is four years younger than the former record holder, Russian grandmaster Gari Kasparov, who won the championship in 1985 at the age of 22.
The Indians followed the 14-match World Cup competition with an intensity usually reserved for major cricket tournaments.
The fans began to celebrate after a mistake by Liren paved the way for Dommaraju’s victory.
The teenager burst into tears when his win was announced, and the room erupted in cheers.
A video of his tearful reaction quickly went viral on social media.
The Caramel Popcorn Debate
Is caramel popcorn like any other popcorn? No, says India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, which sets the rates at which various products are taxed.
Earlier this month, the council announced that unbranded popcorn mixed with salt and spices would be taxed at a rate of 5%, but caramel popcorn, which is categorized as a sugar confection, would attract an 18% tax.
India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman explained that the presence of added sugar makes caramel popcorn a “mithai” or sweet, therefore attracting tax under a different category than regular popcorn.
The decision excited Indians, sparking a series of memes and criticisms on the internet.
“Our country’s tax system has truly evolved, popcorn is now the gold standard of luxury,” wrote one user on X.
Instagram influencer and celebrity popularly known as Orry commented that caramel popcorn is bad for “financial health”.
Jairam Ramesh, a spokesman for the main opposition Congress party, said the “absurdity of three different tax slabs for popcorn under GST… only brings to light the deeper issue: the increasing complexity of a system that was supposed to be a good and simple Tax”.
