“Sridhar Vembu’s Defiant Simplicity In A Divided State”, Swarajya, October 08, 2025
“As Zoho’s Arattai app surges in popularity, Tamil Nadu’s ideological gatekeepers scramble to discredit a self-made tech visionary because his success doesn’t fit their script.
On some mornings, Sridhar Vembu rides his bicycle past paddy fields glistening in the soft light. The air in Tenkasi carries the calm of distance, from Chennai’s din and Silicon Valley’s sheen. Amid this quietude, it is easy to forget the storms that follow him in headlines and feeds.
Vembu, founder of Zoho Corporation and architect of the indigenous messaging app Arattai, has been the target of ideological sniping, not for any technical failure, but for the sin of being a Tamil Brahmin who refuses to fit into the slots designed by the Dravidian ecosystem…..”
Read full article at swarajyamag.com
