Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal Calls Gender Pronouns 'Illness' Borrowed From The West, Sparks Debate

Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal voiced his criticism of what he termed the 'pronoun illness,' specifically targeting the "West." The incident occurred when LinkedIn's AI chatbot referred to him as 'They' instead of 'He.' Aggarwal highlighted this occurrence with a screenshot, implying that such practices were influenced by Western culture.

He took to X to share his two cents on the gender pronouns debate. He expressed his concern about the spread of what he termed as the "pronoun illness" to India and urged people not to blindly adopt Western practices.

AI Chatbot Referred To Agarwal As 'They' Instead Of 'He'

Aggarwal seemingly used LinkedIn’s AI Bot to ask about himself. He posted the screenshot of the answer in which the chatbot used ‘they/their’ to address him.?

Bhavish then went on to say that many ‘big city schools’ in India are now teaching how to use gender pronouns to students. “Also see many CVs with pronouns these days. Need to know where to draw the line in following the west blindly!”

In just a matter of some hours, the post has ignited a fire on the internet with varied opinions coming forward.?

While Aggarwal found support from some, others emphasized the importance of gender pronouns.

crowd for think

“I disagree with you here. This doesn’t hurt anyone and do you really think having pronouns on CVs would impact your decision to hire an individual?” one user questioned.

Another user wrote, “Totally agree. We cannot import it when we have real issues on the ground. But this is up to the MNCs and government of India. Employees will be forced to follow it up.”

“Thank god. There is hope. A CEO and influencer speaking against this illness,” a third user commented.

“Respecting pronouns is a basic act of decency, not an illness. Using someone's correct pronouns is the bare minimum, to respect LGBTQ+ folks. You're tweeting this just a month before Pride Month is celebrated and I'd suggest you take this time to follow thought queer leaders in India to understand their journey, struggles and needs. If you'd like a few recommendations to some individuals, organisations and workshop facilitators doing the important work of LGBTQ+ advocacy and education, hit me up,” another user added.

In a satirical response to Aggarwal, Artist Varun Grover quipped, "Feel free to update your bio to 'Stuck in the past at Ola.'"

What are your thoughts on it? Tell us in the comments section below.