San Francisco: Anshita Saini, an Indian-origin ChatGPT growth engineer at OpenAI, shared an exciting career milestone with her mother that quickly went viral for the most classic ‘desi mom’ response imaginable.
Saini, thrilled that a feature she developed was featured in a TechCrunch article, texted her mother to share the achievement. The feature allows users to assign traits to the ChatGPT AI chatbot, such as being “chatty” or “Gen Z”.
However, her mother’s reaction wasn’t what one might expect from a tech milestone. Instead of praising her daughter’s accomplishment, her mom quickly shifted the conversation to more pressing concerns—like her daughter’s health.
Saini shared the conversation on X (formerly Twitter), posting a screenshot with the caption, “Cannot catch a break.” The exchange went as follows:
- Anshita: “This feature I built made it onto TechCrunch!”
- Anshita’s mom: “Nice! Great! Inspirational… Did you have nuts and fruits today though?”
Viral Reaction
The post quickly went viral, racking up over 1 lakh views in hours. Commenters flooded the post with messages of appreciation for both the tech achievement and the classic Indian mom moment.
- “Indian moms for the win,” one user commented.
- “Haha, so relatable,” another wrote.
- “Your mom’s reaction is priceless – only an Indian mom could seamlessly shift from tech achievements to health checks,” someone else said.
A Familiar Theme
Anshita’s experience of achieving great success yet receiving “did you eat well?” advice is something that many Indian-origin children can relate to. Even tech giants like Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, have shared similar stories. Pichai, despite being awarded an honorary doctorate, once shared that his parents had always hoped he would go on to pursue a PhD, demonstrating the universal high expectations Indian parents have for their children.
Conclusion
Anshita Saini’s viral post reminds us of the humorous but heartwarming nature of Indian parent-child dynamics, where major career milestones often come with an equal focus on health and well-being. Whether it’s an article in TechCrunch or a Google CEO’s honorary doctorate, Indian parents always have that extra layer of care, concern, and a push for something more.
