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

From hilarious viral videos and celebrating the glory of Indian sports to moments that made us shake our heads in wonder – the year 2024 had all this and more to offer on Indian media.

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

Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani and his family kept the world alive for months the best celebrations about the marriage of his son Anant.

The additions began to attract attention in March when some of the world’s famous people started arriving in India to participate in the pre-wedding ceremony. The star of the show was pop star Rihanna, who work in the event he was the first in India.

Over the next few months, the Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry, Italian Tenor Andrea Bocelli and Justin Bieber held various events leading up to the wedding.

Guests included Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, Bill Gates, Kim Kardashian, actor John Cena, 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 seller from the state of Maharashtra, found herself on the internet after she offered a cup of tea to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

The tea vendor was already known for its social media presence and unique style of serving tea.

Gates to movie he currently has over 176m views on his official Instagram page.

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

Dolly Chaiwala later told news agency ANI that she did not know that she would be serving tea to the tech billionaire.

“I didn’t even know. I thought he was a guy from a foreign country and I had to give him tea,” she said.

Sushila Meena, a 10-year-old girl from the small village of Ramer Talab in northern Rajasthan, went viral on social media this month after cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar shared a video of her playing on X, formerly Twitter.

The girl’s video, which was shared on Instagram by her school teacher, showed her playing slowly on a cricket pitch in her village.

Tendulkar shared the video, saying that his bowling action was “smooth, easy, and beautiful to watch!” He also said that Meena had “shades” of former India skipper Zahir Khan.

Khan agreed immediately. Several former cricketers have now come forward to help him achieve his dream of playing for India.

India celebrated as Gukesh Domaraju defeated China’s Ding Liren this month to become the world’s youngest chess master.

Dommaraju, 18, is four years younger than former Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov, who was 22 when he won the tournament in 1985.

The Indians were chasing a 14-year World Championship run which is usually a fixture in cricket’s major tournaments.

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

The boy broke down in tears when he announced that he had won and the room erupted in cheers.

A video of her crying hastily went viral on social media.

Is caramel popcorn the same as any other popcorn? No, argued India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) which sets the rates at which various goods are taxed.

Earlier this month, the council announced that unbranded popcorn mixed with salt and spices will be taxed at 5% but caramel popcorn, which it classifies as sugar-based, will attract an 18% tax.

India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, explained that the presence of added sugar made caramel popcorn a “mithai” or confectionery, thus attracting tax in a different category than regular popcorn.

The decision brought Indians together, which led to various memes and criticism on the Internet.

“Our country’s tax system has really changed, popcorn is now the ultimate gold,” one user wrote on X.

An Instagram contributor and celebrity known as Orry also claimed that caramel popcorn was harmful to “financial health”.

Jairam Ramesh, the spokesperson of the main opposition Congress party, said “no tax on three types of popcorn under GST…Tax”.