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

From entertaining viral videos celebrating Indian sporting glory to moments that had us shaking our heads in wonder – 2024 had all this and more to offer on Indian social media.

Here are some unforgettable moments that we have selected for you.

Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani and his family have kept the world fascinated for months Lavish celebrations To attend his son Anant's wedding.

The splendor caught people's attention for the first time In March When some of the most influential people in the world started arriving in India for the pre-wedding event. The star of that show was pop star Rihanna performance This event was her first in India.

Over the next few months, the Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, and Justin Bieber all performed at various events leading up to the wedding.

Among the guests were Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, Bill Gates, Kim Kardashian, and actor John Cena. Former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair, Boris Johnson, Samsung chairman JY Lee and Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan among hundreds of others.

Dolly Chaiwala, a tea seller from Maharashtra, found herself going viral 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 He currently has over 176 million views on his official Instagram page.

“In India, you can find innovation everywhere you turn – even in making a simple cup of tea,” he wrote.

Later, Dolly Chaiwala told news agency ANI that he did not know that he had served tea to the tech billionaire.

“I was not aware of it at all. I thought he was a man from a foreign country and I had to offer him tea,” he said.

Sushila Meena, a 10-year-old girl from the small tribal village 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 herself bowling on X, formerly Twitter.

The little girl's video, which her school teacher shared on Instagram, showed her playing bowling in slow motion on a makeshift cricket pitch in her village.

Tendulkar shared the video and commented that her bowling was “smooth, easy and fun to watch!” He also said that Meena has “shades” of former India bowler Zaheer Khan.

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

India celebrated the name Gokesh Dumaraju Defeated This month, Chinese Ding Liren will become the youngest world chess champion ever.

Domarago, 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 were following the 14-match World Series with an intensity usually reserved for major cricket tournaments.

The fans started celebrating after a blunder by Lerin paved the way for Domaraju's victory.

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

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

Is caramel popcorn 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 a 5% tax would be imposed on unbranded popcorn mixed with salt and spices, but caramel popcorn, which it classified as sugary sweets, would attract an 18% tax.

Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman explained that the presence of added sugar makes caramel popcorn “mithai” or sweets, and thus attracts taxes under a different category than regular popcorn.

The decision angered Indians, sparking a host of memes and criticism online.

“Our country's tax system has really evolved, and popcorn is now the gold standard of luxury,” one user wrote on X.

An Instagram influencer known as Ori commented that caramel popcorn is bad for “financial health.”

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