Deadpan Dad: Megha Rajagopalan’s Father Gives Thanda Response to Her Winning the Pulitzer
Megha Rajagopalan, an Indian American journalist, with BuzzFeed News, along with two contributors – Alison Killing and Christo Buschek — won the Pulitzer Prize for her innovative investigative series that exposed a vast infrastructure of prisons and mass internment camps secretly built by China for detaining hundreds of thousands of Muslims in the Xinjiang region.
As the award was announced on June 11and congratulatory messages started pouring in from around the globe, Rajgopalan shared a screenshot of her conversation with her father, as reported by the Indian Express. Sharing the chat which read, “Congratulations Megha. Mom just forwarded me. Well done”, with no emojis or even exclamation marks in the message, Rajgopalan posted the message on her Twitter feed, with the tongue-in- cheek caption ‘an understated Indian dad reaction’.
The tweet resonated with many desi people online, leading it to go viral. People reacted to her post congratulating her on winning the award but said they could totally relate to her father’s understated reaction, with many asking why Asian parents were all like this – where earning kudos from a complete stranger was far easier than getting praised by their own parents. As Gautam Hans points out, “No punctuation after “well done” because exclamation points are for Nobels. But seriously, congratulations!”
Many said although they might not be expressing their happiness and excitement to their child to keep them humble, they surely have been bragging about their daughter to everyone. Epitomizing this sentiment Indira Harinath tweeted, “I’m sure your dad is bragging about your achievement to his friends, strangers. But to your face he is holding back, so it doesn’t go to your head. We Indian parents think that will keep our kids humble, grateful and hardworking. Believe me, he was thrilled and dancing. Congrats!!”
While others like Varun Vira agreeing with this tweeted, “Don’ worry. They’ve also surely by now forwarded it to everyone they’ve ever met including the weird aunty down the road.”
Others joked that Indian parents have a very high standard and are hard to please. Tweeted Prajjwal jokingly, “Congrats! Without a medal and a certificate, will South Asian parents even consider it a prize though?”
Others also quipped her dad might be still disappointed that she didn’t become a doctor or an engineer – the socially sought-after career choices for Indian parents – but thanked her for inspiring others to follow their dreams.
Heena Santry, MD., tweeted “Still disappointed you didn’t pursue medicine or engineering? In all seriousness, a hearty congratulations to you. These are the kinds of successes that normalize desi kids pursuing their dreams.”
Similarly, Wajahat Ali too took to social media to note, “Still not a doctor, Megha, but…well done, Beti.”
While yet another netizen, summing up this feeling, tweeted, “First, congratulations!!! Mr. Rajagopalan does have a point. Unfortunately, these days not every journalist wins a Pulitzer or even be able to put food on the table. But every doctor is able to. He was hoping you would be the Sanjay Gupta or Atul Gawande. That’s all.”
While others definitely saw the humor in this way of thinking. Dilshad D Ali tweeted, “Showed my husband- we laughed until we cried – he’s a Dr and I’m a journalist. Imagine who gets praised. Congratulations!! This is phenomenal!”
Some, like Vice President Kamala Devi Harris’s niece Meena Harris, after congratulating her on this honor, too joined in the fun, tweeting “In the meantime he’ll be waiting on that Nobel.”
Others like New York Senator Jeremy Cooney simply extended his congratulations on the honor, tweeting “This made my day.”
So did Aarti Shahani, who tweeted, “We’re proud of you, beti. The whole diaspora.”
Whereas others, like a proud Amit Khemka took to social media to congratulate her on breaking the glass ceiling, summing up the present mood. “I am a dad of a 15-yr-old named Megha and by golly if she ever wins a Pulitzer, all of Chicago will come to know. Congrats Megha!!!! Well done! You are an inspiration for my Megha and so many Indian daughters who now have another example of broken ceilings.”
Guess, even winning the highly coveted Pulitzer Prize might not elicit a gushing response from hard-to-please Asian parents.