A Maharashtra family’s celebration of its first daughter in 200 years has gone viral after video of the event spread online.

The baby girl, named Gargi, was brought home from the hospital in a decorated chariot as part of a festive procession.

Drumbeats, fireworks and sweets marked the occasion, with relatives and well-wishers from the community joining in.

The family, based in Parli in Beed district, said Gargi is the first daughter born into the family in four generations.

The child’s grandmother reportedly called her ‘Lakshmi Devi’, a reference to the Hindu goddess of wealth, reflecting the family’s happiness.

The family belongs to Parli in Beed district, Maharashtra, where the celebration drew attention from neighbours and local residents who joined in the festivities.

The story has since gone viral online, with the video of the procession and celebration circulating widely across social media platforms.

Observers have noted that the family’s decision to celebrate a daughter’s birth with the same grandeur traditionally reserved for a son’s birth carries a symbolic message about gender attitudes.

India has historically grappled with a skewed sex ratio in parts of the country, making stories that celebrate the birth of daughters a recurring point of positive social media attention.

The celebration has been widely shared as an example of changing attitudes toward daughters in some rural Indian communities, even as broader societal shifts remain gradual.

The baby girl was named Gargi, and family members said she is the first daughter born into the family in four generations.

The newborn was brought home from the hospital in a beautifully decorated chariot as part of the celebratory procession through the local area.

The celebration included drumbeats, fireworks, decorations and the distribution of sweets, with relatives, friends and well-wishers all taking part.

The baby’s grandmother reportedly referred to the child as ‘Lakshmi Devi’, invoking the Hindu goddess of wealth, reflecting the family’s joy at the birth.

Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (representative Maharashtra drum procession image)

A video of Assam teacher Rumi Deka carrying out her Census 2027 fieldwork with her twin daughters has gone viral online.

The clip, shared on Instagram, shows Deka moving from house to house with one daughter in her arms and the other by her side as she completes her assigned duty.

She said she had no option but to take her daughters along, since the fieldwork involved visiting multiple homes and the time required for each round was uncertain.

The video has since won widespread praise for her dedication, though some social media users questioned how she was juggling childcare alongside her official responsibilities.

A person identifying himself as Deka’s husband clarified in the comments that her teaching job and Census assignment are separate roles, with her school close to home while the Census work requires visiting different households.

He noted that her school is close to home, while the Census assignment requires travelling to different households, making the twin-daughter workaround necessary during fieldwork hours.

Census-related fieldwork in India typically involves enumerators, many of whom are drawn from the teaching and government employee workforce, visiting households to record demographic data.

The video is among a string of recent human-interest clips from India’s ongoing Census 2027 preparatory exercises to draw attention on social media.

Officials overseeing Census operations have periodically highlighted individual enumerators’ efforts as part of broader outreach around the exercise, though this particular clip circulated organically rather than through official channels.

The response to Deka’s video reflects a recurring pattern online, where everyday acts of balancing work and childcare draw significant public sympathy and engagement.

Deka posted the video on Instagram, showing herself moving door to door with one daughter in her arms and the other holding her hand as she completed her rounds.

She explained that she had little choice but to bring her daughters along, since the fieldwork involved visiting multiple households and she was unsure how long each round of duty would take.

Photo of the Census enumerator mascot, Wikimedia Commons, GODL-India (representative census-duty image)

California-based fashion label JW PEI has renamed a garment after facing online backlash for marketing what critics called a saree as a Western-style ‘draped maxi dress.’

The item was originally listed as the ‘Botanical Embellished Draped Overlay Maxi Dress,’ priced at around $229, roughly Rs 21,900 to Rs 26,000.

The controversy was raised by Indian beauty entrepreneur Arshia Moorjani, who questioned why a garment so clearly resembling a traditional saree was being marketed without acknowledging its origin.

Following the backlash, JW PEI changed the product listing to ‘Botanical Embellished Saree-Inspired Gown,’ with the updated description now stating the design is ‘inspired by the traditional South Asian saree.’

The garment in question was a navy blue pre-draped saree-style piece with a floral embroidered blouse, featuring the tight waist pleats and structured pallu characteristic of the Nivi drape, India’s most widely recognised saree style.

Social media users pointed out the pattern of Indian garments being rebranded for Western markets, drawing comparisons to earlier controversies involving dupattas marketed as ‘Scandinavian scarves’ and Prada’s Kolhapuri-inspired sandals.

This is not the first time a global fashion label has faced criticism over how it describes traditional South Asian garments, with similar rebranding disputes recurring periodically as Indian-inspired silhouettes gain traction in Western fast fashion.

The brand’s revised product listing now explicitly credits the design’s roots, a change commentators noted came only after the criticism gained visibility online rather than being part of the original marketing.

The garment in question was a navy blue pre-draped saree-style piece with a floral embroidered blouse, featuring the tight waist pleats and structured pallu characteristic of the Nivi drape, India’s most widely recognised saree style.

Social media users pointed out the pattern of Indian garments being rebranded for Western markets, drawing comparisons to earlier controversies involving dupattas marketed as ‘Scandinavian scarves’ and Prada’s Kolhapuri-inspired sandals.

Photo by Wikimedia contributor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0