Street food stalls are intimate parts of every bustling city and market in India. One can find everyone from sixteen-year-olds to sixty-year-olds all fervently waiting to get, say a pani puri (hollow puri filled with a mixture of flavored water, tamarind chutney, and chili) before the vendor closes up for the day. Vendors work with dazzling speed and great enthusiasm in dishing food that is intense on the taste-buds and easy on the pockets. 

As soon as I say “I am Indian,” a series of stereotypical questions come my way. “Do you speak Indian?” or “How are you so fluent in English?” are asked quite frequently. However, my personal favorite, “Do you ride on elephants?” is easily the best. (By the way, no, we do not ride on elephants).

From the popular “brown parents” memes to TikTok trends, Indians have a significant involvement on social media platforms. It has empowered global users to broadcast ideas and to share content through forms of communication, creating unique online communities. I perceive it as the inevitable western influence on Indian culture. Having witnessed the development of social media for the majority of my life, the pungent traditional values alongside modernization in India have exposed me to a variety of aspects which allow me to become aware of the social media’s strong and ever-growing influence.