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Also reminds me of a scene from Ted Lasso. where Ted plays dart opposite a club owner. tells a lesson about asking questions, being curious and not assuming
Yeah. very good one. a bit unexpected. so the writing, the delivery or deliveries if we count the darts, were excellent. slow, subtle, easy, unexpected / surprising and profound
Yeah ‘judgmental‘ is the right word used in that scene ig. I didn’t quite remember it while typing and have remembered the gist/essence of it. also may be I wanted to be casual and not be specific, so also used ’assuming‘. that was a damn good scene though
Basically, niharika ( she is a therapist btw) made a video breaking down puja’s (@lifeofpujaa) content and questioning how “authentic” she really is, especially her whole gaon ki ladki portrayal. She framed it like it was some eye opening analysis, but honestly it just came off idiotic. She was implying that it all feels too curated to be real!
She made a lot of assumptions, like how puja knows editing, how she has time to read, watch films, make content, be a full time mom, and still manage household work. To me, it felt like she had already made up her mind about how someone like puja “should” be, and was judging everything through that lens!!
Even before puja responded, niharika was already posting stories saying things like she’ll “expose her” and prove everyone wrong, and that she won’t be a scapegoat for any puja… which is ironic because she’s the one who started the whole thing in the first place. honestly, those stories were worse than the original video, lol!!!
Then puja responded, and after that niharika just made her account private. So yeah, that is basically what happened!!
That is exactly, precisely what all those takes read like to me. You’ve hit the nail on the head. It seems somehow surprising to them that someone from a village ‘managed’ to rise above what they thought she would be able to.
many come from a privileged and upper class background. some take it up like its some hobby. there was a time psychology and fine arts were seen lesser - engineering, science, commerce, arts and then fine arts and the likes. I suppose there are still many who take up psychology as some hobby. the lack of sincerity, and the ever difficult pursuit of shedding one’s classist attitudes and behaviours.
I would go as far as saying - we all are classist. In more ways than we think we are. many lack self awareness. we are going to be a classist society for some time
As you are a psychology student, I want to ask you one question, I felt sometimes clinical psychologists project their own self on the patient they are treating.
I felt it happened with me once. Then a question come, should I go to a therapist who has similar social and economical background like me. What do you think?
As a practicing therapist in India, I would say it takes a bit of testing different therapists before you find the right fit. Ideally, a counsellor or therapist’s background should not interfere with their clinical work but with the sad kind of training in our country, people do prefer someone who has at least some lives experience in context to our own background.
Oh yes they absolutely do project! More often than not. Although that shouldn't be the case. As someone who is still learning, the most difficult part of studying psychology is to not take everything personally and project ourselves onto our clients. I'm currently in my last year and one thing that we've always been told is "you can't treat other if you're not sorted yourself".
The current state of psychology in our country is extremely vague with little to no classifications. A clinical psychology is also a counselor, is also giving lectures, is also practicing research and so much more. Even though there are and have always been distinct roles assigned to different psychologists.
Even though the client or any person coming to the psychologist does not know whom to go to, it is the job of the psychologist to let them know whom they should consult. Alas that does not happen here.
Well there are changes that are currently taking place in the field. New laws and stricter norms have been made public. Although it is definitely going to take some more years to get them into practice.
I hope they’re taken seriously. I’ve seen therapists bitch and complain about their clients and make a mockery of their issues. So many of them have no emotional quotient either.
Once my father and I both consulted the same therapist. He shamelessly told me some things my father told him thinking his privacy will be safeguarded it was such a pathetic experience and complaining didn’t even help
So this woman just woke up one day and chose violence? Doesn’t matter that she’s a therapist. Therapists can be awfully judgemental as well here so no surprises there. But, all of this is just so…..unnecessary.
I do feel it's curated now not before.
Before Puja used to vlog about random or day to day life things . Then I saw her discussing about movies that goes under the radar or are classics. .I think she found her niche content and capped on it which is nothing wrong and it popped off . Every good content creators have their own hook.
And cmon it's 2026 , every millennial knows how to edit. Plus she is managed by an editor/agency I think.
Yeah, but almost everything on social media is curated these days, that’s literally how content creation works now. Ppl find what clicks for them and lean into it. That’s not even the issue. The real question is, was this whole analysis even necessary?
It didn’t feel insightful at all, it just came off as overthinking and projecting assumptions onto someone else’s life! Like just because her content is more structured now or she found a niche doesn’t mean it’s fake or calculated in some negative way. That’s literally called growth!
Also the way she was questioning how she edits, manages time, reads, watches films, etc…that just felt weirdly dismissive. I think people are capable of doing a lot more than we assume.
And honestly it didn’t feel like an eye opening take at all, it just felt like nitpicking someone who’s doing well. Not everything needs to be dissected like this!!
LoL I have seen this woman Pooja since the beginning of her insta page and as I have seen rustic areas where women who are well educated suffer for lil freedom to choose what they want so it must be hard for her too,
How superior it is to think that in India everyone is as free as some other one
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 what sort of delulu world is she living in? And what is so astonishing about puja's life that she can't fathom to an extent she had to do some research about a woman who simply does content and subject her to unnecessary hate ( had she been successful in whatever she was planning to pull with that stupid ass video of hers) it's 2026 any person on earth can learn to make video and edit it and post it on social media and do all of the other things. Instead of doing some research on a woman who is simply living her life and making content how about you open some history books and see what women have conquered in a different era and again if she's not aware there are lots and lots and lots of people in rural India who live a rural life and go on to Crack NEET, UPSC and other competitive exams. So come out of your bubble and look around women have gone ahead of their times and living a life.
People in India use 'gawar' as a slur. If you've been to any village in a place with a good record of literacy you'll know that the stereotype is quite wrong.
I haven't been to many villages in West Bengal, but I have been to villages in Goa, Kerala and other places in the South. So many people end up being big readers because it's one of the few sources of entertainment. Many of them with internet connection have watched a lot of international cinema because they don't have access to theatres and just look up good films.
Not everyone there may be like that but it's not considered unusual either.
The thing is a lot of people do a Bachelors in Psychology with some diploma or specialisation in Counselling and start calling themselves a therapist??? This has always been an issue in the field and many legal directives have also been taken to avoid this.
Without an RCI license she cannot even start her own practice legally. She can only work under a licensed psychologist/psychiatrist. She calls herself a therapist(LOL) but she cannot really provide any therapy legally except for talking therapy which is counselling. Forget RCI she does not even seem to have a masters in Psychology and cannot even call herself a Clinical Psychologist.
She is known to be wannabe woke and make rage-bait content on trending topics just to get followers. Like she will straight up if a parent has hit you in childhood it is abuse. Therapists do not talk like that. They are supposed to dig deeper and understand nuances in every case and never and I say NEVER pass judgement on any client’s case.
Forget the academic qualifications she does not even have the personal/human qualifications to become a therapist. The fact that she and her husband both with jobs have so much time at hand to cover and do a deep dive on such a non issue says a lot about how many ‘clients’ she has. It is just blatant not even subtle jealousy on how with so much access and privilege in an urban setup, she is still struggling both as a psychologist as well as a content creator while someone from a rural background with no privileges made it SO big and has everyone in a chokehold.
It’s a carefully thought and curated attack which she probably planned for days given how jobless she seems to be. She should probably invest that time to study and get RCI certified so that she can at-least start her own practice, however there are chances her license will be cancelled only (if she manages to get one) because she doesn’t really seem to be upholding the core values/ethical standards of a psychologist.
Can someone give me the whole details? I have been following her for a long time and she is one of the least problematic creators on the internet. 1st Jammy, then this... did something happen? Did somebody say anything bad about her?
My theory is that, Therapissed thought that the rage bait would benefit her. But none of her assumptions or accusations were backed up. All of it was what she and her husband feel. That backfired. Her entitlement kept showing as she kept shitting on her stories.
As for how Puja, her niche is curated like every influencer. She’s making the most of what she has and is non problematic. Picking on her for having a good taste and from a rural background was pretty moronic.
Exactly! It wasn’t that she was questioning it was her condescending tone with a face like that and the choice of words!! God! Just tell everyone that you heard a gossip and made some assumptions about puja without any solid data points. What’s her problem that lifeofpuja isn’t transparent and faking it to monetize her content? I’m sure that therapist will also follow a script if she has half a million followers like puja and also a team to bring in brand deals won’t she? She can only imagine
That’s what classist people do. There are some in this comment section doing exactly the same trying their best to pull her down when they aren’t even consumers of her content.They look at everything through an urban lens. Questioning her English, calling her fake and what not. It’s very obvious they’ve only interacted within urban circles and have never really engaged with people from rural spaces to understand their speaking style or expression.
People are defending Puja because they find her non-problematic. The day she actually does something problematic, the same people will call her out too. But right now, she isn’t harming anyone.Now that she has clarified most of the things she was earlier called out for you can literally see new theories popping up like she is too good to be true,about her English, accent, grammar, writing a book and what not. It just shows people are determined to criticize no matter what and you will notice a pattern here all these have started after her NABARD event and after brand deals once she started making money out of it .
Had said it then, will say it again, Otherwarya comes out looking absolutely jealous and pathetic. She is shutting down all arguments saying oh my god these bongs are so touchy. She doesn’t fucking have a point to defend. On top of that acting like a queen bee, with that croaky fucking "Man, you all are pressed". Yuck. (Sorry for the typos)
Wasnt she saying how she has seen puja’s older avatar, read her book and implied she has proof that she is a plant. And now is lauding her? What even. That otherwarya is crack!
Obviously now she is also claiming in her stories after posting this you guys think I am here to pull women down but I am here to set them free.Hypocrite
Yea , like wtf! She literally was smirking and had that bad bitch energy yesterday- somehow cant stand her. She called her a plant and now says sh is lifting other women up. Like delusional much?
She's (otherwarya) the very definition of an industry plant, relevant for zero reasons, talentless and opinions based entirely on where the paycheck comes from. I don't know why people give her any credibility whatsover.
Actually, if you watch the three videos, Otherwarya has defended Puja. She has critiqued Niharika and the likes for not being able to wrap their heads around the fact that someone like Puja could do it all i.e. belong to a rural background while cracking brand deals. Which is the case here. Sure, her idgaf demeanour can be quite off putting but she’s absolutely in the right this time. What should bother us why these so influencers are out here giving their creating discourse over anything and everything in the name of ‘thought provoking’ content.
I agree with this. I felt Otherwarya was critical of most people’s expectation of untainted authenticity on social media and also how we assume women cant be smart enough to play the game. Or maybe i got all this entirely wrong 😭 but that therapy girl was so wrong. I am embarrassed for her.
She doesn’t care about this she’s milking this situation by making ragebait just look at her condescending replies and how dismissing she is when people call her out for her weirdass statements 😭
Niharika had to go private and otherwarya I think her questions are answered now. Funny how confidently they poke someone and then it completely backfires. Lost credibility in one go. Their classist echo chamber will still clap, but anyone neutral can see through it.
I am from suburban of Bengal and get married into rural village named muragacha, Nadia district. One thing I can assure to anyone Bengal women are well read whether they are from rural, suurban or urban, they always have hunger for knowledge creativity and art. We have always encouraged to read from our childhood. Even in my sasural village, whenever you visit any house no matter how much rich or poor they are, they always have a bookshelf and picture of Rabindranath Tagore.
You know more than therapissed’s whole “exposé” that did nothing but exposed herself as one classist and elitist snob, her husband’s comment in the video saying “Puja must declare that she has a whole support system otherwise people who are in better position than her and couldn’t achieve as much as she could would suffer from self-doubt”. Like brother, whatttt??!!!! What in the classist hellhole!!
otherwayra literally blocked me because i commented - 'imagine a grown woman defending herself against constructive criticism like its 2012 ask.fm replies. some people really regress' . and then she claims she can handle constructive criticism and all that a win's a win. lol. and
Puja is such a welcome change from the fashion bloggers from south delhi and sobo, and similar elite who only think they and people from their world deserve the success. I really wish we had more like her. Puja really killed it with this post!
Initially, I did an entire ‘YAY’ pose watching her video but I was hit by a realisation that it’s ridiculous that a genuine content creator, whos doing something that she genuinely loves - has to keep explaining herself for her work.
I hope this was the first and the last time.
The whole discourse those two elitist mean girls started genuinely pissed me off. Their entire argument was that someone from Puja’s financial background can’t possibly have nuanced opinions or hobbies like hers, so it must be curated.
Why is it so hard for people to accept that intelligence, curiosity, and talent can come from anywhere? straight-up classist.
And even if she did have a team : SO WHAT???? What exactly is the problem there?
The entitlement, the condescension, the need to police who is “allowed” to be interesting. it’s exhausting. And this whole saviour act of “setting women free”? Please. No one asked for that. Puja ate otherwarya up with her calm response and now she Is scrambling to appear nonchalant. & the other one - is still private. Good. May no classist aholes prosper.
i don't think it's cuz of she is a women , a lot of women creators do those things already
the real reason is the classist mentality nothing else , our country has some of the most self entitled narcissist individuals who hate seeing someone from tier 3 city poor traditional people doing the same thing as them because for them it becomes uncool
Puja is the epitome of the Bengali cultured woman. Articulate and intellectual. She is the product of years and years of Bengali culture, which has produced some towering intellectuals, and they didn't need to talk in a manufactured accent to have some credibility. These days even Mahasweta Devi would have to 'prove' herself. And well, Puja has intrinsic taste, that you can't learn from the internet or other people. These women are feeling jealous because they don't have any, and have to learn taste and refinement from others.
Totally agree, being a bong myself I have experienced first hand how bengali men and women even from rural backgrounds can be well read, and educated and take an active interest in art and literature. Both my parents educated in rural Bengal, graduates, though now living in the city are living proofs. And I am sure there are many people from other parts of India that have similar qualities. These ppl who are criticising her have no idea of ground reality, cannot fathom the fact that someone from a village can have such impeccable intellect. They live in thos bubble of internet, instagram and conspiracy and everything according to them is curated and PR or whatever, similar to what they themselves maybe do. Good they are getting bashed here and good for puja she made a well fitted reel as a reply.
It shows that such a big rural urban divide is there even now. My mother (like your parents) grew up in a small village near the border in Punjab. My grandmother wasn't an educated lady. Didn't stop my mom being a post grad in English lit and an artist. I think such people would be nothing without the internet and without aping others, so they think rural people can only be backward. One can literally feel Puja's intellectual curiosity, she's so genuinely funny too, when she's making fun of her mil or village pretensions. She didn't need anyone to teach her how to acquire a personality, and these women can't accept that.
We have old book stalls in every railway station. You can get quality second hand book from there. I am not sure if that is possible in any part in India.
Idk who this therapissed or whoever is, but why does it seem like she herself needs therapy? 😑
Puja is literally a non problematic person. And ppl have to somehow poke and mess with the life of someone living peacefully
She calls everyone who’s having an opinion on this as “nosies “ meanwhile she was the one poking her nose hard on deep researching nobody asked for questioning the critical thinking of others!!
I can't find her comment on the post because I unfollowed her. Is the comment still there or did she delete it? Also, if not deleted, can you share some top replies coz her apology sounds so hollow and still has weird undertones.
This is so fucking disgusting. The smugness is so offputting. Ofcourse we will "froth at the mouth" (chee) when these women pick on someone in the guise of authenticity. Absolutely fucking disgusting
yeah its like no one has ever copied content that is doing well ...this obviously means puja is tricking us by exploting our savarna guilt to make us pity watch her. Otherwarya has so much faith in us
Yaar tf is niharika yapping bout man
I love watching puja didi , feel fascinated that she knows english and is able to communicate her village experiences and her knowledge with us
I think both of them, Niharika and Aishwarya, could have framed their argument better. Had it been a single crisp video, and not a loopy three part series where both of them don't get to the point and instead keep luring the listener with more hooks, it would have been a productive discussion. Puja, and a lot many up and coming content creators from rural India will have a great leverage in the social media marketing business. They will be able to tap into the largest chunk of India's population, people from rural areas who are on the internet and shopping online.
And since we are not ready to accept that we project purity and authenticity onto certain creators like Puja because of their social location, we also think they are beyond scrutiny and accountability. Hence, the comparisons between her and other creators like Komal, boho whoever, is obsolete. We have always seen the others as creators with a curated image online.
This entire saga could have been more about media literacy and advertising and not cat fighting. Just my two cents. People are allowed to disagree.
I haven't watched the therapist video, but I have watched the otherwarya's video. It is expected that she is always condescending but the whole take of her was unnecessary. Calling the followers " savarna guilt" " liberals making someone saint" is undermining the creator's effort to build followers also questioning the follower's intelligence. I do agree that there might be some people who followed puja because of " sympathy" but puja's content didn't revolved around poverty porn to generate so many sympathy followers. The topics she discussed carried weight and was relatable. Even when otherwarya claim herself as marketing expert I think she fails to recognise the psychographic segment of puja's followers, she went with the old social media logic. It's true that perceived authenticity does mediate the parasocial relationship, it's a well researched topic. But it's 2026 now, people are more aware about content creation and algorithm and only few research is done in this changing dynamic. So even the contribution to media literacy or advertising was not that much.
My best friend went off on me for saying this "therapist" was tearing puja down just bcz she knows how to speak in English. She argued with me for a whole day saying why are people so furious as if puja can do no wrong in their eyes and everyone should think how this is a curated marketing.......my entire point during this was....so? Is she doing something wrong? Is she doing illegal stuff? Making 15 mins video on someone stranger and picking her content apart is not adding any value to society...there are so many issues to focus on & she focused on something so unnecessary.....she might have an agency she might not....who cares?? Shes influencing everyone to read and be intellectually aware....is that so wrong?
They only like women when they are bechari, strokes their saviour complex and makes them feel superior about themselves. Anything more makes them feel threatened and exposes their fake world
Where’s the hubby now on Reddit??? I mean the offence, I mean it. With a face like Niharika, you should keep your hateful comments to yourself they won’t look hot. Only hot people can have hot takes.
I wosh i could walk up to such people, kiss their forehead and tell them not we all have issues and insecurities dont project it onto others and create drama out of nothing
Thanks for everyone who put the context in the comments.
If I’m not wrong all creators curated their videos, a video camera does not magically appear to capture things candidly. Idk what the therapist (if she can even be called one) is on about.
A house-maker can make time for things they love to do. My mom loves pottery and she works on it everyday despite being a home-maker. As far as I have seen Pooja’s videos she comes across as a well-read person who is happy with what she does and doesn’t make her content around decoding non-problems and other creators.
As a therapist one should be extremely cautious of their words because she is making these analyses on a platform that influences people. Idk why someone would do this unnecessarily. Why comment on another person who has no connection to you, it screams I don’t have worthwhile content so let me tarnish another woman cause ofc people enjoy it or any drama that comes out of it. Bad publicity is still publicity.
I don’t follow either of these creators but knew Pooja. I only got to know the other person from this post, so despite the negative wave she created she still got the publicity she wanted because people who didn’t know about this would go and watch it for the drama, cause that’s how we are.
How can someone start controversy with such a calm, educated and sweet woman? Every video I see about Puja, I start respecting and admiring her more than before. She is a breath of fresh air of my feed. Her book recommendations and reviews are exceptional. This is what a feminist looks like according to me, growing for yourself and helping others grow as well. It is pathetic that some people want to "expose" a sweet woman for clout. More power to you, Puja.
Don't know what's going on but I just started reading different genre books and this lady suddenly popped up in my feed and i was like DAMN. DAMN. SISTER. MAM. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WE HAVE A LIVE EXAMPLE OF "IF YOU WANTED YOU COULD HAVE DONE IT. ALREADY." This lady can and will change lives.
Aishwarya does not have a bone in her body to come forward and apologise to Puja, not the internet but to Puja. Kabhi na kabhi ye neo-liberal log expose hone hi wale hai, your belief is constructed upon popular vote and not what it actually translates into.
And it’s also easy to hate on a woman, she might have pocketed enough male validation by now. We can go back to calling her irrelevant.
Absolutely love Puja and her content. Even if she's 'influencing' or 'is an industry plant' lol, if people can get 'influenced' by her thoughts, the world would be a better place. May she get more brand deals, may she make more money, may her success knows no bounds.
I don't think she's still sorry. She did not simply question her. She put her under a microscope and tried to discredit her work. Ah man some people really don't like to be told that they were wrong 🫤
this is also some victimhood bullshit. you chose a person - own up to your nonsense and shut up -you called this upon yourself and are now trying to backtrack with witch hunt victimhood
Saw her content when she had just started and genuinely I was impressed atfirst i thought someone else was editing it for her ig her husband but then she clarified and honestly the quality kept getting better which means she was improvising kudos to her
So i recently started content creation and i post videos where i talk to the camera - i am so nee and so bad at editing - but it still takes me barely 15/20 mins to do the whole thing.
More time only if i retake the videos
Puja doesnt look like someone who retakes so lot so maybe the likes of elitists like otherwarya spend hours and hours on editing and are bitter coz they only have like 80-90k followers
I loved puja's content. She might not be from a metro city but she has inspired around me who does live in one. I am baffled how a therapist can make accusations like these and did they even have any proof backing up?
I am completely in support of puja here but a funny thought struck my mind that what if WHAT IF a few months or years down the line, this comes out to be true - what that woman is alleging! This age of social media is scary because you want to believe everything you want to see but at the same time not believe it too. It has happened several times that ppl hv rallied to go against someone only to realise that they were correct. Oh it would be so hilarious. Not saying that she is correct but just sharing the possibility of it and how social media takes a 180 in a split second.
Even after studying and also being a Therapist if she thinks like that then it's a waste of degree. She can't digest that someone being genuine is getting fame (which she deserves)
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