Chai with Bill Gates, Ambani wedding, chess glory and other 2024 viral moments from India

From hilarious viral videos and celebrations of Indian sporting glory to moments that left us shaking our heads in wonder, the year 2024 had all this and more to offer on Indian social media.

Here are some of the most memorable moments that we have selected for you.

Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani and his family held the world captive for months lavish celebrations for his son Anant’s wedding.

The extravaganza first caught people’s eyes in March when some of the world’s most influential people started arriving in India to attend a pre-wedding event. The star of that show was pop star Rihanna, whose performance at the event was her first 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.

Dolly Chaiwala, a tea vendor from the state of Maharashtra, found himself going viral online after he served 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’s video of the moment has more than 176 million views on its official Instagram page.

“In India, you can find innovation everywhere you turn – even in the preparation of a simple 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 didn’t realize it at all. I thought he was a guy from a foreign country and I had to serve him tea,” he said.

Sushila Meena, a 10-year-old girl from the small tribal town 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 X, formerly Twitter.

The young girl’s video, originally shared on Instagram by her school teacher, showed her bowling in slow motion on a makeshift cricket pitch in her village.

Tendulkar shared the video and commented that her bowling action was “smooth, effortless and lovely to watch!” He also said Meena had “shades of” former Indian bowler Zahir Khan.

Khan immediately agreed. Several former cricketers have now come forward to help her realize her dream of playing for India.

India celebrated as Gukesh Dommaraju defeated China’s Ding Liren will this month become the youngest ever world chess champion.

Dommaraju, 18, is four years younger than the previous record holder, Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov, who was 22 when he won the title in 1985.

The Indians had pursued the 14-match World Cup contest with an intensity usually reserved for major cricket tournaments.

Fans began to celebrate after a blunder by Liren paved the way for Dommaraju’s victory.

The teenager burst into tears when his victory was announced and the room erupted in cheers.

The video of his tearful reaction quickly went viral on social media.

Is caramel popcorn just like any other popcorn? No, argued 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 5%, but caramel popcorn, which it categorized as a sugar confectionery, would attract an 18% levy.

India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman explained that the presence of added sugar made caramel popcorn a “mithai” or confection, and therefore attracted taxes under a different category than regular popcorn.

The decision had the Indians up in arms and sparked a series of memes and criticism online.

“Our country’s tax system has really 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 was harmful to “financial health”.

Jairam Ramesh, a spokesman for the main opposition Congress party, said that “the absurdity of three different tax schedules for popcorn under the GST… only brings to light a deeper issue: the growing complexity of a system that was supposed to be good and simple Tax”.