BuzzFeed reporter Megha Rajagopalan
(Picture: YouTube/Oslo Freedom Forum)A journalist tweeted out her Indian father’s “understated” reaction after she won a Pulitzer Prize, and the internet is loving it.
BuzzFeed reporter Megha Rajagopalan was honored on Friday with the Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting, alongside her coworkers Alison Killing, and Christo Buschek.
The trio were given the highest honor in journalism for their series of articles for BuzzFeed which “used satellite images, 3D architectural models, and daring in-person interviews to expose China’s vast infrastructure for detaining hundreds of thousands of Muslims in its Xinjiang region.”
Understated Indian dad reaction pic.twitter.com/bdE7I0Kaq2
— Megha Rajagopalan (@meghara) June 11, 2021
Congratulations to @meghara, @alisonkilling and Christo Buschek of @BuzzFeedNews. #Pulitzer pic.twitter.com/oXKPxCAvn4
— The Pulitzer Prizes (@PulitzerPrizes) June 11, 2021
Per the Pulitzer Center, Rajagopalan was the the first journalist to “find and visit an internment camp for Uighur Muslims in China’s far west.”
It’s also the first Pulitzer BuzzFeed has won since its launch in 2012.
Overall, it’s a massive honor that comes after years of long, hard work.
So Rajagopalan sparked a series of joyous responses after sharing her dad’s uber-calm response to the major award.
This. Is. Everything. 😂 https://t.co/t31URarE8y
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) June 11, 2021
“Congratulations Megha. Mom just forwarded me,” her screenshot of the WhatsApp conversation read. “Pulitzer Prize. Well done.”
I love this.
— Siddhartha Mahanta (@sidhubaba) June 11, 2021
Congrats!!!
The generational divide between periods and exclamation marks
— dan nguyen (@dancow) June 11, 2021
On Twitter, children of apparently similarly “understated” Indian parents chimed in that they’d experienced totally similar reactions.
Don't worry. They've also surely by now forwarded it to everyone they've ever met including the weird aunty down the road.
— Varun Vira (@VarunVira_) June 11, 2021
They also noted that behind the scenes of the super steady text message, Rajagopalan’s dad was probably overjoyed.
