‘Literally the best Indian kids can hope for’: Desi Tweeple relate to Pulitzer-winning journalist’s father reaction

As the award was announced and congratulatory messages poured in from around the globe, she shared a screenshot of her conversation with her father. Sharing the chat which read: “Congratulation Megha. Mom just forwarded me,” she aptly dubbed it as ‘understated Indian dad reaction.”

With no emojis or even exclamation marks in the message, he only added, “Well Done”, it resonated with many desi people online, and led to the tweet going viral. It was even retweeted by Pulitzer Prizes’ official Twitter handle.

Understated Indian dad reaction pic.twitter.com/bdE7I0Kaq2

— Megha Rajagopalan (@meghara) June 11, 2021

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 are all like this. 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.

Some even joked that as parents have a very high standard and are hard to please, with some even saying “he’s waiting for the Nobel”. Others also quipped he might be still disappointed that she didn’t become a doctor or an engineer but thanked her for inspiring others to follow their dreams.

Here’s what people on Twitter had to say about the father-daughter conversation:

No punctuation after “well done” because exclamation points are for Nobels. But seriously, congratulations!

— Gautam Hans (@dispositive) June 11, 2021

Still not a doctor, Megha, but…well done, Beti.

— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) June 11, 2021

In the meantime he’ll be waiting on that Nobel

— Meena Harris (@meena) June 11, 2021

Four sentences. Two periods. Zero exclamation marks. Marvelous.

Also… CONGRATULATIONS!

— Santa Maria (@briansantamaria) June 11, 2021

“why wasn’t it a pulitzer plus?”

— Scott Lucas (@scottlucas) June 11, 2021

Don’t worry. They’ve also surely by now forwarded it to everyone they’ve ever met including the weird aunty down the road.

— Varun Vira (@VarunVira_) June 11, 2021

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.

— Heena Santry, MD (@heenastat) June 11, 2021

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.

— Amit Khemka (@khemami) June 11, 2021

In fairness, all of your Indian friends growing up are getting hit with, “Megha just won a Pulitzer Prize..” :) Congratulations!

— Raj Premakumar (@RajPremakumar) June 11, 2021

Well done is the Indian dad equivalent of 600 exclamation points

— shivram (@shivramv) June 11, 2021

I appreciate the ‘thanks’ with a small ‘t’. Type of shit I’d do in my passive aggressive response to shit like this.😩😅

— M3NSA (@mensamusic) June 12, 2021

What, no Nobel?

Congrats to @meghara— Well done. And also Rare. https://t.co/4jkSj9bzV7

— Jonah Blank (@JonahBlank) June 12, 2021

How many of us having trouble with expression as Megha’s dad here? I know I struggle. Something about the way we’re raised teaches us to always suppress emotion, to the point that even when we want to, we can’t find the words.

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Congratulations, Megha! This is huge. https://t.co/Gvr0bSKTUf

— Kiran Jonnalagadda is ½💉 (@jackerhack) June 12, 2021

Lol. I can relate. 😂😂

Me: Dad, I will be graduating from Harvard Law with the Dean’s Award.

Dad: 👍👍 https://t.co/AtYDlfPdK3

— Sidharth Chauhan (@sidchauhan28) June 12, 2021

As close to the platonic ideal as it will get. Note the lack of punctuation at the end. All future models will be judged by this: not one extra word or pixel.
(Note that Megha won for reporting on repression in Xinjiang, but she got kicked out of China—no reporter, no evidence.) https://t.co/wi6Z8hC5d2

— zeynep tufekci (@zeynep) June 12, 2021

literally the best indian kids can hope for https://t.co/zWf5qeynaQ

— Ayan Chatterjee (@goayango) June 11, 2021

WHY ARE ALL ASIAN PARENTS LIKE THIS 😭😂 https://t.co/SNiLgJb8C5

— fatty p (@tishfillet) June 12, 2021

This is so my dad. Only difference is he’d send a text message instead and twill be in all caps😂 https://t.co/uhCPQjcLSD

— Olawalle (@_olawalle) June 12, 2021

Indian parents and their expectation plane directly flying thru the roof! Damn. Always. https://t.co/Sf0ajSiGQ3

— Jiggzzz (@Jiggzzz0391) June 12, 2021

desi parents really know how to keep you humble. https://t.co/HPWvNSx5bv

— Omar S. Rashad عمر‎ (@omarsrashad) June 11, 2021

Rajagopalan is among two Indian-origin journalists who won the US’ top journalism award on Friday. Tampa Bay Times’ Neil Bedi won for local reporting. Bedi along with Kathleen McGrory has been awarded the prize for the series exposing a Sheriff’s Office initiative that used computer modelling to identify people believed to be future crime suspects. About 1,000 people were monitored under the programme, including children.

Rajagopalan, international correspondent for BuzzFeed News, was the first journalist to find and visit an internment camp for Uighur Muslims in China’s far west — work for which she won the Human Rights Press Award in 2018.

Minutes after she won, Rajagopalan told BuzzFeed News she wasn’t even watching the ceremony live because she wasn’t expecting to win.  “I’m in complete shock, I did not expect this,” Rajagopalan was quoted.