2019 is the year of the Indian emoji. We present the conception to birth-and-after stories of the temple, diya, autorickshaw and sari.
When Girish Dalvi speaks, words tumble. It is 7 November 2019, two days before the Supreme Court of India rules on the Ayodhya land dispute. As creator of the Hindu temple emoji, Dalvi, an assistant professor at the Industrial Design Centre at IIT Bombay, is worried he’s spawned something that will take on a life divergent from the intentions of its maker. Just like Frankenstein’s monster.
And so his words, fed by apprehension, flow without pause. But Dalvi can breathe easy for now; although the Supreme Court ruled in favour of a mandir, his Hindu temple emoji—one of 230 new …
Roshni is a features writer and former editor of The Morning Context's Chaos team. Her career spans The Ken, Reuters, the Hindustan Times and DNA. She is a recipient of the UNFPA Laadli award and was shortlisted for the RedInk Awards 2016 for her story on Mumbai’s leprosy colonies. Her far-flung ideas would sometimes drive our editor-in-chief Ashish up the wall, but he wouldn’t have had it any other way (even if he didn’t admit it).
roshni@mailtmc.com