Indian-American Gita Gopinath, the chief economist of International Monetary Fund (IMF), welcomed the new year 2022 with a snack widely enjoyed in India— golgappa alias pani puri alias phuchka.
She shared a photo of her enjoying golgappa or pani puri, which is among the most favourite street food items in the country.
“Happy 2022,” she wrote along with the picture. “Gol Guppa aka Pani Puri to kick off the new year!”
The social media post went viral soon, and within a day of being shared, it had got over 37,000 likes. It was also retweeted over 1.098 times. Many of her followers even commented on the post as well as liked it.
After seeing her post, people wrote that golgappas are certainly the first choice of every Indian. Another user, however, said that when someone starts the year with pani puri, then surely she will be a completely indigenous person.
In the shared photo, Gopinath can be seen inside a restaurant, and the tamarind water is kept on a tray. However, it is not written in the picture, where this photo is from.
One user said that since she was born in Kolkata, she should have referred to “golgappa” as “phuchka.
In December 2021, Gopinath was being promoted as IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director. She would replace Geoffrey Okamoto who plans to leave the IMF early this year. Gopinath, who was scheduled to return to her academic position at Harvard University in January 2022, has served as the IMF’s chief economist for three years.
Kristalina Georgieva, IMF’s Managing Director, had said Gopinath’s contribution to the IMF work has already been exceptional, especially her “intellectual leadership in helping the global economy. Also, Gopinath the first female chief economist in IMF history has earned respect and admiration across member countries.
