An Indian American plastic surgeon is going viral after responding to racist comments about her bindi with a message of empathy, reigniting conversations about the growing wave of anti-Indian sentiment targeting professionals across the United States.
Dr. Karishma Reddy, a U.S.-based plastic surgeon, posted a lighthearted reel recounting a patient interaction involving her bindi. Instead of sparking a casual conversation, the video drew a flood of xenophobic and anti-Hindu comments, with some users telling her to “go back to India” despite the fact that she was born and raised in the United States.
In a follow-up video, Reddy addressed the backlash, saying she was taken aback by the level of hostility.
“I have never seen so much anti-Indian rhetoric in my entire life,” Reddy confessed in the viral video. “A lot of these comments were regarding telling me to go back to India. I was born and raised here in America.”
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The incident comes amid growing concerns over rising hostility toward Indian Americans. While much of the rhetoric in recent years has centered on Indian professionals in the technology industry amid debates over H-1B visas and immigration, similar attacks are increasingly spilling into other sectors. Indian American educators, healthcare workers and other professionals have also become targets of racist abuse online, suggesting the backlash is no longer confined to one industry but is increasingly directed at the community regardless of profession.
Reddy said the response was especially surprising because the original video was simply a fond memory from her medical career.
“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,” she stated.
She added that her experience in healthcare had largely been positive, noting that Indian Americans are well represented in medicine and have generally been treated with respect.
“In the healthcare setting, Indian people aren’t really seen as a minority. There’s so many of us in healthcare. We’ve always been treated, for the most part, with kindness and respect from my colleagues,” she said.
Reddy also used the opportunity to address misconceptions about Hindu beliefs after several commenters mocked the religion’s reverence for cows.
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“Hindu people don’t eat beef,” Reddy said. “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.”
Rather than responding with anger, Reddy urged viewers to learn about cultures different from their own and to approach others with empathy.
“You will never lose anything by treating people with kindness and respect and learning more about their backgrounds and cultures,” she said. “Please be kind.”
Her response quickly resonated across social media, with many users applauding her calm approach and praising her for using the moment to educate viewers about the cultural significance of the bindi and Hindu traditions instead of engaging with the hate.