An Indian-American has spoken out after a light-hearted video about her bindi attracted a wave of racist and anti-Indian comments online.
It all started after Dr Karishma Reddy, a US-based plastic , shared a video recounting an incident from her days as a medical student. She described the incident as a “light, fun memory”. But the clip triggered a wave of hate, prompting her to address the abuse in a follow-up video.
What happened?
In her first video, Reddy recalled an encounter during her rural medical rotations at the Medical College of Georgia.
“As a medical student, when you go on your rural rotations, nobody really prepares you well for those. I went to the Medical College of Georgia. I showed up in this tiny town. I was seeing this man for diabetes, and his wife asked me why I wore a dot,” she said, referring to her bindi.
Before she could answer, the wife’s husband allegedly made a racist joke. “I’ll tell you why she wears that dot. When she gets married, her husband scratches it off and finds out if he won a motel or a gas station,” he said.
Reddy said that the remark left a lasting impact on her. “I just… I drove home in silence a lot of those days,” she said.
Watch the video .
‘Comment section went absolutely nuts’
As the video gained traction, multiple users targeted her with xenophobic remarks telling her to “return to “.
Responding to the backlash, she shared another video saying that she has “never seen so much anti-Indian rhetoric in my entire life”.
“Earlier this week, I made a reel about a patient encounter regarding my bindi, and it was a light, fun memory that I have. But wow, the comment section went absolutely nuts. I have never seen so much anti-Indian rhetoric in my entire life,” she said in a second Instagram video.
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The doctor said that she may have been unprepared for the level of online hate because she had spent most of her life in healthcare, where she had largely been treated with kindness and respect. She said many comments told her to “go back to India”, despite the fact that she was born and raised in the US.
Reddy also responded to comments centred around cows and Hindu traditions, saying many people appeared to hold misconceptions.
“Hindu people don’t eat beef,” she said, explaining, “The main reason for that is not because we have a sacred text telling us not to eat cows. It’s because in the olden days when a lot of women died in childbirth, we survived off of cow’s milk. So out of respect for the cow, for giving humans the gift of life, we do not slaughter or kill cows.”
She also said that she was saddened by how comfortable some people have become expressing hatred online. “I don’t know when society pivoted to feeling so comfortable saying hateful things online, but it makes me really sad,” she said.
“You will never lose anything by treating people with kindness and respect and learning more about their backgrounds and cultures… Be kind, please,” she added.
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Social media reactions
The video received widespread support on social media, with many users praising Reddy for responding calmly to the racist comments.
“I can’t believe you have to deal with this but I am also in awe of how you deal with this,” one user wrote.
“This is unconscionable. And shocking. Your grace and loving spirit are remarkable,” commented another.
“Respect to you and all the healthcare Indian/Asian physicians that are constantly dealing with racism but always choose to acknowledge it with so much grace. You spoke like a true boss! Keep your head up Doc!” wrote a third user.
