This week’s viral feed offered a wonderful mix of real-world action and creative nostalgia. While Bittu Tabahi was busy rolling up his sleeves and hauling tons of garbage out of a local river, the internet was having a blast using ChatGPT to travel back in time, generating vintage, analog-style ‘80s portraits to see how they’d look in a pre-smartphone era.
Real-world impact: The rise of Bittu Tabahi
After videos of Surendra Singh Choudhary, popularly known as Bittu Tabahi, showing him single-handedly clearing piles of garbage from a heavily polluted river in Madhya Pradesh went viral, international attention quickly followed. Impressed by his incredible work ethic and environmental dedication, the CEO of a Dutch sustainability firm publicly reached out to offer him a job, inviting Tabahi to bring his passion to their global team.
Beyond the online praise, Choudhary’s relentless cleanup drive is creating genuine change on the ground. Speaking with my colleague Vaishali Kapila, Tabahi shared that local residents have begun changing their habits since his videos went viral.
Tabahi’s individual effort caught the attention of the state’s highest leadership, leading to an official meeting with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav. The Chief Minister felicitated Tabahi for his selflessness, stating that the entire state takes pride in his inspiring environmental mission.
The ChatGPT 1980s photo trend
While Choudhary was busy restoring the present, the rest of the internet decided to move into the past. Feeds were flooded with film-grained, soft-focus portraits as people used ChatGPT to time-travel back to the 1980s - perm, analog glow, and all.
Most-read this week
An NRI who returned from Australia questioned Mumbai’s costly socialising culture. “I recently went back to India and realised how much money I spent just trying to hang out there,” Smidha said in the video shared on social media. She pointed out that back in Australia, meeting up with friends cost next to nothing by comparison.
Before you go…
Can you find the cat hidden in this log pile?
That’s all from us this week. See you next time with more of what the internet is talking about. Happy scrolling!
