Charles Assisi

Technology. Power. Institutions. People.
Observing how they shape each other

Co-founder, Founding Fuel
Columnist, Hindustan Times
Co-author, The Aadhaar Effect

[Charles Assisi @c_assisi]

@bhideatul @htTweets Thank you, Atul. You've always been kind to me. Means a lot.

[Miss Money Penny @CleansedTweets]

There's is Indian uproar on X over Thailand reducing the tourist visa stay for #Indians from 60 days to just 15 days. But calling Thais racist is neither fair nor true. Why this happened 👇

- Extremely loud (beyond a joke loud)
- Lack of personal space, pushing
- Treating hotel staff like servants
- Hygiene issues in shared spaces
- Lack of cultural adaptation
- Inappropriate behaviour towards women 👀
- Pack (group mentality) Massive groups of men
- Littering (dropping trash)
- Stealing hotel amenities
- Urinating on beaches
- Indian prostitutes now seen in Bangkok/Pattaya
- Disregard for queues / lines
- Lack of deodorant usage (sorry but its true)
- Working illegally. This is evident in most tourist hotspots.
- Generally rude
- Tight, the perception is Indians don't spend money

All of these issues above have spiraled to a point now where other nationalities are avoiding certain Thai tourist towns and resorts that are heavily dominated by Indians tourists.

Sort it out guys. Its pretty bad out there. Nothing to do with racism. Even Expats Indians in Bangkok having been having this conversation for over two years now and they all agree, by and large the behaviour of many Indian tourists is extremely poor.

#India #IndianTourists

[Founding Fuel @FoundingF]

"The mountain does not negotiate with your ambition."

In this riveting travel piece, @TheSwamy writes about preparation, friendship, humility and discovering that ordinary people are capable of far more than they imagine.

#AnnapurnaCircuit #Himalayas #WeekendReading

[Founding Fuel @FoundingF]

1/ India’s problem is not lack of ambition.
It is that too many parts of the economy still pull in different directions.
A new two-part essay series by Haresh Chawla @hchawlah for @FoundingF explores why India keeps missing the mountain.

🧵

[Charles Assisi @c_assisi]

@ShumaRaha Thank you, Shuma.
I sincerely hope this stokes some conversations at homes on the theme. Death is always a difficult one to wrap the head around.

[Charles Assisi @c_assisi]

@bhideatul Thank you Atul.

[Charles Assisi @c_assisi]

This, is, perspective.
Thank you for this, Pratim

[Pratim D Gupta @peedeegee]

There was a time when stardom was a fortress. In the 90s, Ruby Bhatia wasn't just a VJ; she was the electric pulse of a new, liberalised India, reportedly commanding Rs 1 lakh per show. Rahul Roy wasn't just an actor; he was the face of a generation’s collective heartbreak, the Aashiqui boy whose silhouette defined romance and whose haircut was the bestseller in every saloon. Govinda? He was—and is—the undisputed king of the masses, a comic genius who could make a cinema hall shake with a single pelvic thrust.

Fast forward three decades, and the fortress has been dismantled by the relentless, voyeuristic machinery of social media. Today, these icons find themselves under the harsh, unforgiving glare of a "content-hungry" digital mob that mistakes struggle for failure and evolution for desperation.

Recent headlines have taken a perverse pleasure in dissecting Ruby Bhatia’s career shift. Yes, the woman who once defined "cool" is now a life coach charging Rs 3,000 for a six-month program. To the keyboard warriors, this is a "fall from grace." To any sane mind, it is a woman finding meaning after a nervous breakdown, choosing to make mental health accessible to the masses rather than gatekeeping it for the elite.

Similarly, Rahul Roy has been subjected to the "cringe" treatment for appearing in social media reels with unknown creators. The internet, in its infinite cruelty, ignores the fact that this man is a brain stroke survivor. He is fighting aphasia, paying off legal debts that predated his illness, and trying to "stay active" and work for as long as he is alive. When he asks his trolls to find him "decent work" instead of mocking his reels, he isn't showing desperation; he is showing a spine of steel that most "influencers" couldn't dream of possessing.

Then there is Govinda, the man who once gave the Khans a run for their money, now frequently seen performing at school annual days and weddings. The "dark shadow" of social media brands these "small shows," as if the size of the stage dictates the stature of the legend. Govinda’s response is a masterclass in humility: "I never let my ego influence my work." Whether it’s a Chief Minister’s event or a local school function, the man dances because he is a performer. There is more dignity in one of his "wedding steps" than in the entire collective output of a thousand anonymous trolls.

Social media has birthed a generation of spectators who believe that unless you are at the absolute zenith of your power, you should vanish into the shadows. We have become a culture that feeds on the "tragedy" of the legacy act.

But here is the truth: There is nothing sad about a veteran getting up and going to work. There is nothing "cringe" about an icon refusing to be defeated by a health crisis or a shifting industry. The desperation doesn't belong to Ruby, Rahul, or Govinda. The desperation belongs to the social media ecosystem that needs to tear down giants just to feel tall.

[IG @IndrajitGupta]

We spend years preparing for life.

The danger is, preparing quietly becomes the life itself.

A sharp essay by @hchawlah in @FoundingF

“We begin to confuse the storing with the living.”

https://t.co/kBmc1DPi0M

[Charles Assisi @c_assisi]

@Prashanth_Krish @Paul_Koshy 😃 That, Prashant, is a conversation we must pick up the threads on

[Charles Assisi @c_assisi]

This has been debunked as a deepfake. But it gets recycled and posted again and again. Deeply unfortunate!
I’m sure you meant well @Paul_Koshy.
But this isn’t God. It’s AI.
We all love inspiring stories—yet when AI fakes them, it erodes trust in real miracles and real news.

[Charles Assisi @c_assisi]

If you value truth over clicks, repost this.
Tag a friend who shares miracle videos.
What’s one way YOU check if a video is real?
#Deepfake #AIFake #FactCheckIndia #MediaLiteracy

[Charles Assisi @c_assisi]

Fact-checkers (@boomlive_in, @TheQuint) confirmed it weeks ago: AI-generated video with unnatural physics and artifacts.
No real child, no real cow, no real rescue.
This is part of a wave of “animal hero” AI slop flooding our feeds.
Spot the signs: too-perfect timing, short train, zero panic.

[Hindustan Times @htTweets]

Insta ads and their instant gratification

@c_assisi ✍🏻

https://t.co/2Yk2AgWE3E

[Charles Assisi @c_assisi]

🚨 This landed in my WhatsApp and it genuinely infuriates me.
A brazen fake @mahanagargas message — logo, business account, the works — threatening to “disconnect my connection immediately” tomorrow (23rd April, 10:30 pm) unless I call “Mr Rahul Joshi” on 9181930820.
Manufacturing fear around something as basic as cooking gas, preying on ordinary families who can least afford to be disrupted or defrauded.
These guys must be cooked.
This is social engineering, designed to extract OTPs, bank details or “verification payments.”
These scams are proliferating.
Slow down. Verify everything. Block. Report. Share this if it saves even one household from falling into their trap.
Screenshot attached.

[SUDHIR @seriousfunnyguy]

This will make your day. And if you’re a gym person, you’ll definitely have a hearty laugh

[Ravi Prakash Official @raviprakash_rtv]

Today I am posting four videos of a brave, courageous, common Indian woman who has gone viral across India.
Why?
Because she did what most of us feel… but rarely say.
A political rally blocked the roads for hours. Commuters were stuck. Chaos everywhere. And this woman? She just wanted to pick up her child from school.
But when patience ran out, she stepped forward.
She questioned the system. She questioned politicians. She questioned the police.
And she asked the most powerful question:

“Who are you to block these roads? Just get out and clear them.”

No slogans. No politics. Just a citizen demanding accountability. We need this courage.We need more voices like hers.Because democracy doesn’t just survive on votes , it survives on citizens who dare to ask questions.

@girishdmahajan @MumbaiPolice @CPMumbaiPolice @Dev_Fadnavis @CMOMaharashtra @BJP4Maharashtra

[Revathi @revathitweets]

This is Soumya!

Voice behind the Noida video where she questioned a man for harassing a muslim couple.

She fought fiercely and very bravely for our country’s integrity and peace.

She may not be wearing a uniform or standing at the border, but she fought for India like how the soldiers do..!!

Soumya released her version of the incidents on her Instagram. Today she is now facing rape and death threats!!

People who stand up like Soumya are the reason India is not fully destroyed.

Kudos to Soumya ❤️🤗

[Charles Assisi @c_assisi]

An intriguing collaboration between @ccrhindia and @niser_official to explore the anti-cancer potential of homeopathic medicines against gallbladder cancer—with promised “mechanistic insights.”
As a lover of rigorous science, I’m genuinely curious: when preparations are diluted far beyond Avogadro’s number (leaving no detectable molecules of the original substance), what exactly is exerting the effect?
Eagerly awaiting the peer-reviewed data and methodology. Science thrives on such questions.

[CCRH @ccrhindia]

On the gracious occasion of World Homoeopathy Day 2026 celebration, a study-based Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed and exchaged on 10th April 2026 between the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) and the National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The collaboration aims to undertake a fundamental research study titled "Evaluating the Anti-cancer potential of homoeopathic medicines against Gall bladder Cancer: An in vitro and in vivi study with mechanistic insights".
The MoU was signed by Dr. Subhash Kaushik, Director General, CCRH, and Dr. Pranaya Kumar Swain, Registrar, NISER, Bhubaneswar. The study team present during the MoU signing included Dr. Ritika Hassija Narula, Research Officer(H)/Scientist-2, CCRH; Dr. Manjusha Dixit, Associate Professor, NISER, Bhubaneswar; and Dr. Yashika Arora Malhotra, SRF (H), CCRH. @niser_official @moayush @PIBHindi @PIBAYUSH

[Charles Assisi @c_assisi]

@ArreShweta This is what makes writing so worth it, Shweta. Thank you so much for being part of this journey :-)

[Rajesh Abraham🇮🇳 @pendown]

Thank you @c_assisi for referring and sharing my piece on Pinarayi Vijayan in @FoundingF newsletter. Reupping the piece👇

Pinarayi alone: The 81-year-old carrying the Left's fate in Kerala | https://t.co/GU2b0HVpx4