Indians in general are prone to be swayed by foreigners doing basic desi things.
Most of India lost its collective nuts when Kamala Harris just used the word ‘chitthi’, the Tamil for aunt. That the US politician and VP candidate has spent the better part of her life slinking away from her Indian identity didn’t matter.
One could almost hear the proverbial coconut being broken in celebration when Harris was announced, even though her statements on various issues so far suggests she might be worse for New Delhi than Donald Trump.
Similarly, Indians got supremely excited when Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel greeted each other with the namaste instead of shaking hands. The namaste has become the choice of greeting amid social distancing which Indians seem to think means we are becoming world leaders.
While it’s understandable that the average Indian gets excited, Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan also seemed thrilled with the namaste.
He wrote, a bit too enthusiastically on Twitter: “India on its way to become a world guru! The global trend of 'Namaste' is a beautiful proof of India's cultural world-victory”
Twitterati, from both sides of the spectrum, were not joyous about the tweet and wondered why the good doctor was so excited.
Dr Harsh Vardhan was elected the Chair of World Health Organization’s Executive Board in May.
He had said: “I feel deeply honored to have the trust and faith of all of you. India, and my countrymen, too, feel privileged that this honor has been bestowed upon us. I will work to realize the collective vision of our organization, to build the collective capacity of all our Member nations and to build a heroic collective leadership.”
