At the zenith of his popularity, political pundit, Dhruv Rathee, was commended for being the much-needed antidote to the streak of toxic nationalism coursing through India during the mid 2010s.
His YouTube videos, in which he criticized the then new administration’s detrimental political reforms, quickly grew traction because they were insightful, measured and most especially, factually accurate (a rarity in today’s Acche Din India).
Like others who weren’t happy with India’s then newfound appreciation for totalitarian batshit craziness, I enjoyed watching and learning from Dhruv Rathee. Knowing full well that India’s legacy media outlets like NDTV and Zee News were wildly biased and sensationalist, I inclined to intelligent independent voices like Dhruv Rathee.
Much to my chagrin, as Rathee grew more and more popular, his content became more and more pedestrian. The once revered young political satirist has for the past several years slowly diluted himself to another vapid influencer; someone who is more interested in showing off his travels with his White girlfriend (shocker) and delivering boring, inoffensive bite-sized facts like “what is the tallest building in the world?” and the captivating connection between the Fanta soda drink and World War II rather than focusing on the rapidly deteriorating state of his country.
He is essentially modeling himself after NasDaily, a twice cancelled, disgraced YouTuber whose Ellen DeGenerate-esque schtick of inoffensive PG-friendly content induces violent vomit.
(Note: I just found out that these two met up. Of course they did…)
Rathee still, on occasion, produces witty political content but it’s become glaringly clear that what’s most important for him is not the country he professes to care about but his desperate need for constant attention. Probably to fill his narcissistic void.
