After a very long time, I was on a train journey, primarily because the railway station I was heading to was more famous than the airport.

After boarding the train, when I walked into my AC 2 Tier coupe, I found two young souls, mostly in their early twenties, giggling and giving high-fives to each other, then back to their phones, typing something, usually like teenage friends.

After settling in, I asked a passing vendor for a cup of tea and began proofreading the book someone had asked me to review. The tea was enjoyable, so I asked him to return every hour or so to check if I needed more. It's typical for me—tea by my side, the red pen in hand, circling words and jotting notes on the side, flipping pages as I proofread. After four or five cups, I was nearly halfway through, cracking my knuckles before taking the last sip from the cup. I folded my hands behind my neck and closed my eyes, visualizing some characters and the flow of the story.

"Do you teach in college?" the boy asked.

"No," I responded, with my eyes still closed, as I wanted to give them some rest.

"The way you are correcting the paper, I guessed."

"Oh, that's not a paper; I was proofreading a book," I replied.

Great, I am also an author. Well, I am Aarav, and my Insta handle is @BolBhaiBol. She is Meher, and hers is @MeherMakesMemes. We create memes, and together we have 11 million followers. Well, hers is only a few thousand more than mine.

For a moment, I paused and said, "And I am a confused person, trying to understand how memes became literature".

"Oh, shall we do a recorded discussion? Let's start... well, let's record it, it would be fun," Mehar said in an excited tone, adjusted her hair and corrected her sitting posture.

That’s when I knew:

This wasn’t going to be a discussion.

This was going to be a conversation between three people who love stories - just in very different shapes.

She hit Record.

The red light blinked.

And Aarav said, “Alright, let’s talk about how we accidentally became authors.”

Aarav:

Look, my origin story is simple: heartbreak, boredom, and free Wi-Fi.

One tragic afternoon, I took a Shah Rukh still, added a one-liner about emotional unavailability, and BAM - 10,000 shares.

Mehar:

Please.. haa. I messaged him before his followers did:

“Hi, your memes are ruining my emotional stability. More, please.”

Aarav:

And that’s when our collabs started.

Our pages went boom.

Suddenly, our DMs were filled with “collab?”, “feature, pls”, and one day… a publisher.

Mehar:

My mother refused to believe it.

She said, “Beta, you barely write a grocery list. How will you write a book?”

Well… here we are.

“But memes are so tiny - how did you stretch into chapters?” I genuinely asked

Mehar:

Honestly?

Memes are the BEST writing school.

They teach precision, pace, and cultural timing.

If one word is off, the joke dies.

Aarav:

Exactly. A meme is a 5-second short story.

It’s already narrative.

It’s already emotion.

It’s basically microfiction wearing a funny wig.

This was becoming interesting to me now. “When did you know this wasn’t just a hobby anymore?”

Aarav:

Our reel “Indian Parents Emotional Damage Combo Pack". Hit 3 million views in a day.

Brands came.

Readers came.

Editors came.

I thought it was a scam.

Mehar:

I think my turning point was when someone DMed:

“Your meme saved my day.”

That’s when it hit me —

Humour is emotional labour.

Humour IS storytelling.

Mehar:

Well...Some memes contain more truth than 300-page novels.

Aarav:

Like the one that says:

“She blocked him… then waited.”

That’s a whole relationship arc in six words.

If that’s not microfiction, what is?

Somewhere, the kids were making sense to me now. So I asked, “What do meme creators have that traditional writers don’t?”

Mehar:

A direct line into India’s collective brain.

We know what India laughs at.

We know what India hides under laughter.

Aarav:

And community!

Meme pages build a loyal village.

That’s every publisher’s dream.

“So… meme creators DO get book deals faster?”

Aarav:

It’s not cheating - it’s clarity.

Engagement numbers ARE proof of storytelling.

Mehar:

And honestly, the algorithm is our unofficial agent.

Instagram → readers → publishers.

Done.

Aarav:

Platforms like Rachnaye are also chasing digital humour voices now -

because humour travels faster than paid ads.

And, “What surprised you the most about Indian readers?”

Mehar:

Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.

They GET our humour.

They read our books more than they read in Mumbai or Bangalore.

Aarav:

Local jokes travel.

Honesty travels.

English is optional - emotion is not.

“Do memes help bring in more diverse voices?”

Mehar:

Yes.

English fluency, contacts, pedigree - irrelevant.

If you can land a punchline, you belong.

Aarav:

Memes are India’s most democratic art form, right now. You pick anything on social media, OTT, or web series. Everyone is part of it, Kuch Memes, Web Series ke upar bante hain, aur kuch Memes, Web Series me use kiye jate hain.. kick hai..

"Will memes keep shaping Indian literature?”

Aarav:

Absolutely.

Writers are absorbing meme-rhythm.

Shorter chapters.

Sharper dialogue.

Scenes that feel like reels.

Meher:

Readers want stories that feel like the internet:

Quick, thoughtful, emotional, honest.

Memes aren’t killing literature.

They’re teaching it new tricks.

We had a long conversation afterward as well, but that can be saved for another time. After returning to my base location, I remembered this conversation and am sharing it. Is something really changing across the language, the way we understood versus the way it is being understood? What do you think?