The book, in the form of essays, conveys an astute, funny, and quick observation of our society by Santosh Desai on how smartphones have transformed day-to-day life in India. Rather than considering technology as a standalone phenomenon, Desai uses the smartphone as a vehicle for understanding wider cultural transformations - how Indians communicate, develop identities, negotiate family life, and engage in public places in the post-2010s digital age. The book is a collection of articles, yet it is held together by a thematic investigation of life in an India that is ancient, ambitious, chaotic and freshly self-aware.
One of the book’s sharpest insights is Desai’s knack for decoding the “cultural software” humming beneath those shiny smartphone screens. He suggests that the device didn’t transform Indians so much as it magnified what was already there - our reliance on family ecosystems. Through memes, selfies tier -2 influencers digital-age parenting, and the boom of online bazaars, Desai argues that the digital universe hasn’t replaced our social world at all - it’s simply become its hyperactive extension.
Desai writes with an easy charm - funny, familiar, and peppered with moments that make you mutter, “Yep, that’s us”. Whether he’s unpacking Mummyji’s Olympic-level WhatsApp forwarding skills or tracing how Instagram subtly retires our ideas of beauty and ambition, he nudges readers to notice just how thoroughly technology has seeped into our daily routines. His anecdotes land because they are both affectionate and sharply observed, revealing how our digital habits mix childlike wonder with creativity, insecurity, and a dash of rebellion. It’s a combination that makes the book especially resonant for anyone navigating the same cultural currents.
The book shines brightest when it captures the tug of war between the old and new, how age-old hierarchies, family logics, and moral frameworks stubbornly persist even as Indians dive headfirst into online freedoms. Desai shows, for example, how the drift from bustling street bazaar to mate-controlled malls and digital storefronts brings along thorny questions of community, class, access, and identity. His reflections on these shifts are nuanced and quietly provocative, tracing the ways modernity is rearranging the Indian imagination without ever announcing itself.
That said, the book’s essay-style structure means it never quite builds towards one grand thesis. While the thematic threads tie tougher neatly enough, readers seeking a rigorous, numbers-heavy sociological treatise may find it lighter than they'd hoped. Its gaze leans heavily toward urban, middle-class India, leaving the complexities of digital life on the margins or in rural spaces mostly unexplored. Occasionally, the broad brushstrokes feel a bit too sweeping for a country as intricate as India. But these are the natural constraints of cultural commentary, and within them, Desai delivers impressively.
In the end, Memes for Mummy offers an insightful, warm, and often razor-sharp portrait of a nation in motion. It captures the quiet revolutions unfolding in kitchens, bedrooms, WhatsApp chats, malls, and social feeds. For anyone wanting to understand contemporary India-not through statistics, but through lived moments Desai provides a lively and meaningful lens. It stands as a thoughtful addition to conversations about how technology is reshaping identity, society, and everyday life in a post-smartphone world.
Title: Memes For Mummyji: Making Sense of Post-Smartphone India
Author: Santosh Desai
Pages: 400
Language: English
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins India
Price: ₹ 699/-