Space bros, censored vadas and sketchy visitors
Honestly, we just wanted one quiet week.
Hello DoorDesi,
First things first, thank you! Since our soft launch last week, you've shown us more love than relatives from papa’s side last time we visited. We see every subscribe, every share, every emoji react, and it truly means the world.
Let us tell you an inside secret. We aimed for 100 subscribers by August 15. Within 4 days of our soft launch last week, we had surpassed 60 and have since revised our goal to 1000 DoorDesis in the community by August 15. And do you know how that happened? You! You resonated. You subscribed. You shared. You loved.
So again, thank you and please keep showing up and please tell us how to do build this space better for you and us.
That said… what is going on in the world?
If you’re feeling like the news cycle is a badly written TV show with too many plot twists and no season finale in sight, same. Being a DoorDesi often means juggling two currencies, five timezones, and seven versions of who we are. And now, apparently, worrying about madmen blowing the world up into smithereens.
So take a breath. We’ve got you.
Here’s your weekly dose of news to help you make sense of this wild wild world.
Oh and one last thing, we are on a mission to map how far and wide Indians outside India are. Take this DoorDesi census and make sure your current city is on the map.
Just the gist
🔗US bombs Iran, India checks fuel prices
So, on Sunday morning (June 22), as we were gearing up to send the first version of this newsletter, the U.S. carried out strikes on suspected nuclear facilities in Iran. This came on the heels of an escalating conflict between Iran and Israel after Israel launched surprise airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear and military sites.
Tehran called New Delhi after the U.S. attack where PM Modi reportedly gave Iran’s President, Dr. Pezeshkian, the subcontinental version of "let’s not do this".
India’s official line?
“We reiterated our call for immediate de-escalation.”
DoorDesi translation: Please stop before petrol hits ₹200/litre and Air India cancels half its flights.
India has vested interest in stability in the Middle East because of several reasons. About 9 million Indians live and work in the region and almost 60% of India’s energy need is met by the region. For now, there is relative quiet in the region.
➡️ For the lot of us living here, this means flights back or from home are longer, in some cases cheaper, and requires a bit of pre-planning. It also means that the rupee might take a small, if not major, hit and so sending remittances now would be smart!
🔗From a ‘sketchy’ hunt to a possible breakthrough for NIA
If you were wondering what really happened after the Pahalgam attcks to the terrorists, there is finally an update.
The NIA was looking for 3 men, 2 Pakistani and 1 Kashmiri who they suspected were the terrorists behind the Pahalgam attack on April 22. Now, the sketches that the police and NIA were using as reference after the Pahalgam attacks seem to be wrong? Turns out, two individuals who have recently been arrested were approached by the suspected terrorists before the attacks from whom they “took food and shelter“.
The arrested individuals say they were given money and threatened by the terrorists. It is through their accounts and that of their relatives who saw the men leave their houses that the identities of the three terrorists involved in the attack have become clearer. The two individuals also confirmed that the attackers were Pakistani nationals affiliated to the proscribed terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba.
This one has been a long time coming.
➡️ This is the attack that triggered India’s current diplomatic push on terrorism. Also, while it shook the nation and every Indian wherever they were. Yet the follow-up has gotten buried under the rubble of impending war. So, we thought, you should know.
🔗When your neighbor's kid actually becomes an astronaut
Remember that kid from your colony who said they'd become an astronaut? Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla from Lucknow actually meant it. He just became the first Indian on a mission to the International Space Station, making us all question our childhood dream commitment levels.
The 39-year-old launched aboard Axiom Mission 4. Upon arriving, he delivered peak patriotic space content: "I believe all of you are with me as I carry the tiranga (tricolour) on my shoulder." Cue every Indian parent looking at their kids with disappointment. UX design ki jagah engineering kar lete?
During the Axiom 4 mission Shukla will conduct experiments — from studying how muscles behave in zero gravity to testing crop resilience in space (because apparently we're already planning interplanetary farming). ISRO coordinated this entire cosmic operation, officially making Shukla their astronaut even though he's technically an Air Force guy—talk about a career pivot that puts your LinkedIn updates to shame. This whole collaboration with Axiom Space is basically India and the US doing a space buddy system, giving us valuable practice runs before we launch our own Gaganyaan mission and start our exclusive space club.
➡️ For those of us watching from our adopted countries: Our moment to casually drop "my country just sent an astronaut to space" has arrived. After 40 years away from human spaceflight, India took a long coffee break and came back stronger.
🔗Your Insta just became U.S. embassy’s business
The US Embassy in India just dropped some news that made every visa applicant's and privacy nerd’s heart skip a beat (and not in a good way). They're now demanding that all visa applicants list every single social media username or handle they've used in the past 5 years. Yes, that includes the cringe account you made in 2020 during lockdown and the anonymous Twitter handle where you subtweet about your relatives. And more importantly your politics is now theirs to judge.
The embassy was crystal clear about the consequences: "Omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas."
This isn't just an India thing, US embassies worldwide are rolling out this digital strip search, with similar announcements coming from Mexico and other countries. The timing is no coincidence, coming weeks after stricter immigration policies kicked in.
➡️ This might be the perfect time to help your younger siblings clean up their digital footprints before they apply. And maybe warn them that their "aesthetic poetry" phase on Tumblr from 2019 is about to get a very official audience. Remember when the biggest visa worry was whether your bank statement looked impressive enough? Those were simpler times.
Keeping up with the internet
🔗From Mr. Cardamom to the latest internet and political Daddy
Is this the big Desi moment of 2025? For over a week, we have been waiting to make you cringe with our Zohran Mamdani obsession.
Do we live in New York? No. Do we know the name of the mayor of our respective cities? Also, no. Are we obsessed with this multilingual, social media taking over, smiling all over your feed, charming, socialist politician? Uh hell yeah!
His political campaign has us hooked. Not just because of his manifesto (which is absolutely fabulous and people-first) but also because of the inclusive campaign that his team has put together. It is not just about people of colour, it is not just about lower income folks, it is not just about human rights, and it is certainly not just words which when probed he cannot explain. NO. He has done his research, he seems to have genuinely reached out to different communities, from Asian diaspora, to young people, to socialists, to anyone who genuinely cares about NYC and making life affordable again (See what I did there?).
Also, dude ate biriyani with his hands in one video and I now need a minute!
➡️ This is what diaspora political power looks like: building teams, not just backing individuals. For every Indian abroad watching their kids navigate Western politics, this is proof that our communities can lead, organize, and win not just by assimilating, but by bringing our collective values to the table.
🔗 When the Vada got delivered too hot - Political burns and censorship
Instagram in India just blocked satirical Instagram page "The Savala Vada" after receiving a legal request, cutting off 85,000+ followers from their daily dose of political dark humor. The page, which specialized in mock-newspaper memes poking fun at government policies, has been "withheld in India".
The page responded in the only way you can expect a sassy page like Savala Vada to respond: "We just got banned from world's largest democracy”.
Internet is fuming because a) how are we supposed to navigate the world as is now without their spicy humour and b) (certainly more outrageously) this, once again, is online censorship and who likes to be told to shut up?
➡️ This also matter to us, scrolling in Berlin or Brampton because Big Tech is quietly turning into Big Brother and if a page named Savala Vada can’t post political content without getting deep-fried by the algorithm, who really can?
Desi heart beat
Bijoy Jain’s Studio Mumbai created a 2,700 sq meter Snakes & Ladders board that turned the Pompidou into a tribute to Indian philosophy, complete with A.R. Rahman's soundtrack.
Snakes and Ladders also called Moksha Patam was created by 13th-century saint-poet Gyandev to teach moral lessons. The ladders represented virtues like generosity and faith that elevate the soul, while snakes symbolized vices like anger and greed that drag you down (and aren’t we all greedy for that roll of 1?).
➡️ What the West knows as a simple board game was actually our ancestors' way of teaching life's deeper truths about karma, dharma, and the journey toward enlightenment.
🔗 VIT Student Builds AI Tool for Indian Sign Language
Priyanjali Gupta, a VIT engineering student, created an AI tool that translates Indian Sign Language into words after her mother asked why most AI only works for people who can speak. Using just a webcam and TensorFlow, she built recognition for six foundational ISL gestures.
➡️ This matters because it represents something we rarely see: Indian innovation solving Indian problems first, then scaling globally. This is the kind of tech leadership we should aspire for, innovation rooted in empathy for their own people.
Chat over chai
There is hardly a corner of the world one can go to and not meet a person of Indian origin. But here's the thing: there's surprisingly little data about where we actually are. No one's properly mapped this incredible diaspora that spans every continent, speaks dozens of languages, and quietly shapes economies from Silicon Valley to Singapore.
We are on a mission to make the Indian diaspora visible, connected, and stronger. Whether you're the only Indian in a small Norwegian town or part of a massive community in London, you matter.
Pin your spot, represent your city, and help us paint this map rangoli-style with our scattered-but-connected DoorDesi community.
With love from two women who cringe at the mention of chai latte.
Sudeshna & Mili
Founders, DoorDesi 💃
P.S. Save us a chai if we ever end up in your city, we’ll bring the murukku.
Housekeeping
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