Unwanted happy endings, dark secrets, and fake weddings
Rakhi is next weekend, but today is Friendship Day, doston!
Hello DoorDesi,
Happy Friendship Day! (scroll down for a little something from us :))
This past week we received quite a few recommendations from you guys for stories to feature. It is already starting to feel like a community that is reaching out to each other, trying to keep everyone in the loop.
This made us very happy!
So that begs the question, would you like to have an online space to interact with each other? A safe, closed space where you can share resources, skills, and asks?
If yes, just drop us a message saying ‘yes’ and we will see what we can do and how fast. We want to ensure that everyone feels safe of course, so this will take a little bit of planning.
But first, tell us, YES?
Just the gist
🔗The ‘happy ending’ that no one wanted
💌 This story is coming to you courtesy one of the Doordesis.
Remember the recent Studio Ghibli train everyone jumped on using AI to generate Ghibli-esque pictures of themselves? Well, Eros International (the production company behind several Bollywood blockbusters) has taken it to the next level. It is re-releasing Raanjhanaa (hua main tera-aaa-aa, sorry I got distracted), 12 years after its original release, but this time with an AI-assisted climax that is supposed to be a happy ending.
The director, the writer, nobody knew. Haah!
Many in the country, and the creative minds behind the movie, consider this problematic. It has also started a debate about the implications of unscrupulous use of AI.
➡️ AI is experiencing a love-hate relationship with us, while the world figures out what the eff to do with it. But when is AI taking up too much space around us if everything we consume becomes AI generated. Also, did we really need a happy ending to Raanjhanaa? A stalker guy who got his love interest’s actual love interest killed. Do we really want to reward him with a happy ending?
🫠Also also, I usually use AI to help me summarise the stories before adding my ‘zing’ to them and fact checking them but for this one I decided to not use AI at all because, well, ‘hyprocrisy ki bhi seema hoto hai’… :D
🔗From ‘forgetfulness’ to a public health crisis
India has 9 million people living with dementia. That’s set to double by 2036, but there’s no plan, no budget, and barely any public support.
Most care happens at home by overwhelmed, untrained family members. Doctors often miss early signs, memory clinics are rare and pricey, and society still calls it “just old age.” Classic.
We’re staring at a full-blown public health crisis, and our response to it is worse than ‘forgetfulness’. It is straight up ignorance.
➡️ If you have aging parents, this isn’t just about “someday” this is about what support systems exist today (spoiler: very few). This is also a wake-up call for diaspora families, where long-distance caregiving is already hard.
🔗Tariff pe tariff pe tariff (geddit?)
Those days of waking up to ‘What’s on Trump’s Twitter’ are back. Chaotic energy pro max. So in classic Trump style he decided to announce 25% tariff on good imported from India a few days ago. Diplomacy is for fools, I guess.
It seems like India is being punished for thinking for and about itself. Buying Russian oil when Uncle Sam ‘Moscow bad!’? No good. Protecting our own agriculture and dairy sector through tariffs? No good. In the most U.S. politics way possible, an official stated that this is a ‘complex issue‘ much like… mass starvation as we have come to learn.
➡️ Some industries will certainly get affected by this so again, specifically for DoorDesis, time to start monitoring the exchange rate if remittance payments are coming up. But also, Trump is cozying up with Pakistan in a very “I want to make my ex feel jealous” way which, anyone who has been through a hard/petty break up can confirm, ain’t gonna end well for anyone in the equation except for that “I told you so” friend.
🔗Mass burials, dark secrets, and unholy ground
A former temple worker at the Dharmasthala temple, an 800-year old Hindu temple Karnataka, came forward claiming he was forced to secretly bury scores of bodies between 1998 and 2014, mostly women of various ages. Imagine having to keep such a horrific secret for so long. As if things weren’t bad enough, there are allegations that several of these secretly buried bodies were rape victims or had been disfigured with acid attack. (I’ll never understand religious institutions).
SIT is carrying out exhumation at several locations but this unraveling of a temple town is not just news. It’s the consequence of blind faith coupled with pure evil.
➡️ Perfectly good to hold on to your religious practices, rituals, and institutions. Just never let that take away your ability to question, reason, and empathise.
Keeping up with the internet
🔗’Let’s Rock!’ us into our teenage years
💌 This story is coming to you courtesy one of the Doordesis.
So there's this fascinating cultural shift happening around Himesh Reshammiya right now. What was once considered trashy is now cool as cultural waves have changed, with a repressed nostalgia finally finding its moment.
Reels of people at Himesh Reshammiya’s latest tour, Cap Mania (yes, that’s the name, yes) are everywhere as the mid 90s to early 00’s generation is starting to realise that “those days“ really were the good old days. It's wild how we've gone from mocking his nasal singing and over-the-top style to genuinely embracing it.
➡️ Everyone is looking for respite. The best place to find it seems to be in the past aka simpler times, better music, and nasal singing.
Desi culture
Okay, so Gen Z has literally broken the wedding industry by... throwing weddings where no one actually gets married. These "fake weddings" are over-the-top, wedding-themed events that mimic the grandeur of real Indian weddings but have no actual bride and groom present which means no aunty to ask you when you are getting married or giving them the “good news“.
What started in some cities in India is now catching on abroad. Doordesis are getting on the bandwagon and we are here for it. I mean, I have missed enough weddings of friends and family to not want to miss the next Fake Desi Wedding party in the neighbourhood.
The ones we found:
- Frankfurt - Aug 9 - Band Baaja Baarat
- Halifax - Aud 22 - The grand fake Indian wedding
- New York - Aug 31 - It’s a fake shaadi
➡️ If you guys have been to one, let us know what you think about this trend!
💌 Send your love around
Here is a little DoorDesi Friendship Day card for you because thank you for showing up for us like real friends. To make your life a little easy, we made this card downloadable so you can share this around with your desi friends who are door from you. Just right click or tap on this picture and ‘Save to device‘. ;) (We won’t mind :P)
Or share this Insta post with your friends
Thanks, doston!
Tell us where you are
There is hardly a corner of the world one can go to and not meet a person of Indian origin. But here's the thing: there's surprisingly little data about where we actually are. We are on a mission to make the Indian diaspora visible, connected, and stronger.
Pin your spot, represent your city, and help us paint this map rangoli-style with our scattered-but-connected DoorDesi community. If you have already, send it to a DoorDesi living near you.
With love from two women who cringe at the mention of chai tea latte,
Sudeshna & Mili
Founders, DoorDesi 💃
P.S. Save us a chai if we ever end up in your city, we’ll bring the murukku.
Housekeeping
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