Nostalgia works in strange ways. Memories we once cringed at can, decades later, tug at our hearts with surprising warmth. For ’90s kids, few things summon that nostalgia quite like Ekta Kapoor’s K serials, those ubiquitous TV fixtures that dominated Indian households.
Which brings me to Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2. I recently watched a few episodes of the reboot—and it turned out to be something of a roller coaster. The moment Parvati appeared on screen and the iconic Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii title track began playing, I was instantly transported back to a simpler time. I might even admit to getting a little misty-eyed.
But sentimentality can only take you so far. The next three and a half hours—six episodes—were drenched in melodrama. The new cast struggled with clunky dialogues, and the exaggerated performances didn’t help. So why did I sit through what was clearly a disastrous binge-watch? To find out what all the Bill Gates fuss was about.
For days, Smriti Irani—our very own Tulsi Virani—has been everywhere, promoting Bill Gates’s appearance on the show as a historic moment for Indian television. And yes, Gates does make an appearance. But after sitting through the entire episode, I was left wondering: what exactly was the big deal?
In the episode, a video of Tulsi talking about the importance of nutrition for expecting mothers at a god bharai (baby shower) goes viral. Gates, impressed, decides to get on a video call with her—just like that. Their brief three-minute chat begins with his cheerful “Jai Shree Krishna” and ends with “Happy Diwali.” In between, they discuss maternal health, child nutrition, and community efforts to build healthier societies.
This isn’t Gates’s first TV cameo. Over the years, he has popped up on shows like Frasier, Silicon Valley, The Big Bang Theory, and even the Korean talk show You Quiz on the Block, each time using the platform to highlight either Microsoft’s innovations or the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s global work. His Kyunki cameo follows the same pattern.
Since beginning operations in India in 2003, the foundation has worked closely with the government in areas like public health, sanitation, agriculture, and financial inclusion. Their initiatives started with the Avahan HIV prevention programme and have since expanded to improving maternal and child health, developing affordable vaccines, and implementing sanitation solutions.
So while Kyunki may have hoped to harness Gates’s global reputation to boost ratings, he was equally using the show’s generational reach to amplify his foundation’s work in India. Nothing more, nothing less—making the 72-hour media frenzy around his appearance seem both overblown and misplaced.
Interestingly, this isn’t Irani’s first meeting with Gates. During her tenure as Union Minister for Women and Child Development (2019–2024), the two shared a platform to discuss public health. In one memorable moment, Irani even had Gates add tadka to a dish while explaining how maternal nutrition doesn’t require fancy recipes—just simple, home-cooked meals with the right ingredients.
If Irani’s intent in bringing Gates onto Kyunki was to leverage the show’s enduring popularity to promote awareness about maternal and child health, that deserves appreciation. After all, there’s no medium as powerful as television—and few messengers as trusted as the nation’s favourite bahu.
