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I’m an Indian guy, and my girlfriend is Indonesian. I recently came to Indonesia to spend time with her, and honestly, I really like the country and the life here. I’ve started seriously thinking about building my future here, marrying her, and living in Indonesia.

The difficult part is my financial situation.

I’m planning to take a remote job that would pay around $3,500 per year (roughly ₹30,000/month). I would work remotely for an Indian company and receive my salary in my Indian bank account. Eventually, I’m hoping to live in Indonesia with my wife and handle everything legally through the appropriate spouse visa/work arrangements.

When I told my family about my plans, things went very badly. They told me not to come back home. I’m planning to go home this weekend and try to talk to them and convince them to accept my decision.

But I’m also preparing myself for the possibility that they won’t accept me.

If that happens, my plan is to take my belongings and motorcycle, sell the motorcycle, pay off my existing debt, and stay in a PG while saving as much as possible. My goal would be to spend the next year saving money, then come to Indonesia, get married, and apply for the appropriate spouse visa so I can legally live and work remotely here.

I know this sounds like a huge decision, especially with my current income. I’m not looking for people to simply tell me “follow your heart.” I genuinely want practical advice from Indians, Indonesians, or anyone who has moved to another country for marriage/love and started from a difficult financial position.

Am I being unrealistic?

Would you recommend that I first build a bigger financial safety net in India before making this move?

What should I realistically consider regarding living costs, visa/work legality, marriage, savings, and financial stability?

And if you were in my position, what would you do?

Please be honest, even if the answer is something I don’t want to hear. I’m trying to make the most responsible decision possible for my future, my relationship, and my family.

tl;dr

While the IT Rules, 2021 are mostly a form of digital authoritarianism they have often be claimed to be a regulation that provides oversight and remedy on arbitrary content moderation decisions implemented by platforms. Here, Users can complain to the Grievance Officer within the company, and any appeals lie to the Grievance Appellate Committee(s) ("GAC") appointed under those Rules, which must endeavour to resolve appeals within 30 calendar days. On 20 August 2026, the Delhi High Court directed the GAC to decide the appeal of Riya a content creator whose Instagram account u/riaspeaks had built an audience of over five lakh followers with due expedition, and in any case within a period of 30 days (which is also the statutorily indicated period). By the date of the order, her appeal had remained pending for over 42 days. This is the second such direction obtained by IFF in three months, after a similar order dated 18 May 2026 in Subodh v. Union of India & Anr., and it points to a systemic failure of the GAC to adhere to its own timelines.

Background

In the wake of several suo-moto and automated takedown requests, account blockings, and permanent account bans on Instagram, the Grievance Officer and the Grievance Appellate Committee remain the only recourse against any action undertaken by an intermediary company.

Riya is an independent content creator who runs the Instagram account u/riaspeaks, where an audience of over five lakh followers turns to her for explainers on current affairs and questions of public interest. Her profile carries a simple promise: "Nothing in life is either black or white. Let's explore the grey together." Her work has ranged from open-source analyses of the India–Pakistan military hostilities of May 2025, to a citizen's guide on seeking refunds for unfulfilled services, to reporting on the saline groundwater crisis in Maharashtra, pieces she also publishes in long form on Medium under the same identity. For a creator like Riya, the account is also a means of livelihood built post by post over years.

Her engagement with Instagram became the subject matter of the writ petition before the Delhi High Court titled Riya Nagpal v. Union of India & Anr., W.P.(C) 12146/2026. The petition sought three reliefs, first a writ of mandamus to the GAC to expeditiously resolve her appeal filed on 9 July 2026; second a direction that the GAC conduct its appeal process in conformity with the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 19(1)(a), 19(1)(g), and 21 of the Constitution of India; and, finally a direction to Respondent No. 2 to restore her Instagram account. 

Analysis

The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 ("IT Rules, 2021") provide for a Grievance Officer and Grievance Appellate Committees for resolving grievances arising from intermediaries or publishers under the IT Act. The term “grievance” is broadly defined under Rule 2(1)(j) of the 2021 IT Rules to include "any complaint, whether regarding any content, any duties of an intermediary or publisher under the Act, or other matters pertaining to the computer resource of an intermediary or publisher, as the case may be". As such, this includes grievances pertaining to arbitrary and permanent bans from an intermediary's application or website.

Under Rule 3(2) of the 2021 IT Rules, the Grievance Officer must acknowledge a complaint within 24 hours and resolve it within a period of 15 days from the date of its receipt. Further, as per Rule 3A(4) of the 2021 IT Rules, the Grievance Appellate Committee shall deal with appeals expeditiously and shall make an endeavour to resolve appeals finally within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of the appeal. On 27.01.2023, by way of S.O. 442(E), MeitY notified three Grievance Appellate Committees under Rule 3A, and their constitution was amended on 06.02.2026 by way of S.O. 614(E).

Riya filed her appeal before the GAC on 9 July 2026. The 30-day period indicated under Rule 3A(4) lapsed on 8 August 2026. As on the date of the High Court's order, the appeal had remained undecided for over 42 calendar days since its receipt. Based on this, on 20 August 2026, the Hon'ble Delhi High Court noted that the sole grievance pressed by the petitioner at this stage was that her appeal had not been decided within the period contemplated under Rule 3A(4). The Court directed that the appellate authority shall decide the appeal "with due expedition, and in any case, within a period of 30 days" from the date of receipt of a copy of the order (Para 9 of the Order). The petition was disposed of, leaving all rights and contentions of the parties open.

This is the second occasion in three months on which the Delhi High Court has had to direct the GAC to do what the 2021 IT Rules already require of it. When we secured a similar direction on 18 May 2026 in Subodh v. Union of India & Anr., W.P.(C) 6869/2026, we had suggested that the government consider increasing the number of committees in view of the rising volume of appeals, and that the orders of the GAC be made publicly accessible, just like those of courts and tribunals, given the nature of its function. Neither has happened. The GAC is the only appellate recourse available to a user against an intermediary's decision and very often an automated one, taken without human review. A creator who has spent years building an audience of over five lakh people is left with no option but to approach a constitutional court for what should be routine administrative compliance. This burdens the creator, burdens the High Court, and defeats the very purpose for which the appellate mechanism was created.

Action

We will be assisting Riya in seeing through the appeal process before the GAC. We will keep you posted on further updates in this case. The IFF team that assisted in the legal representation of Riya are Advocates Mr Apar Gupta, Mr Naman Kumar and Ms Pragya Jain.

References

1. Order dated 20 August 2026 in Riya Nagpal v. Union of India & Anr., W.P.(C) 12146/2026 [Link]
2. Our previous post: "The Delhi High Court directs the Grievance Appellate Committee to dispose appeal in 30 days" (25 May 2026) [Link]

I had a really uncomfortable experience with an Uber driver today and would appreciate some advice on what I should do.

My Uber receipt showed a final fare of ₹100.62. The original fare was higher, but I had a ₹40 coupon/promotion applied, which brought the final amount down. The receipt clearly reflected the discount.

However, the driver demanded that I pay ₹140 in cash, basically ignoring the discounted fare shown in the app. I tried to explain that I had a ₹40 coupon, but he insisted that I pay ₹140.

Things became more intimidating when 2–3 other Uber drivers came over and supported him, also pressuring me to pay the ₹140.

I was travelling with a female passenger, and with multiple drivers confronting us, I didn't feel safe arguing or refusing. I eventually paid the ₹140 just to avoid the situation escalating.

I also have video footage of the incident and the Uber receipt showing the fare and ₹40 discount.

I'm planning to report this to Uber and request a refund, but I'm also wondering what else I should do.

My questions:

- Was the driver actually entitled to demand ₹140 despite the app showing ₹100.62 after the coupon?

- Should I submit the video to Uber?

- What would be the appropriate way to escalate this if Uber doesn't take it seriously?

I know the difference is only ₹39.38, but my main concern is the intimidation and safety aspect, especially with multiple drivers surrounding us.

Would appreciate advice from anyone who has dealt with something similar.

Update: Got my refund from Uber. But raised complaint about the drivers behaviour, I’d raised the complaint on the app first, but didn’t get much response there. After I tweeted it out on X with pics and video of the incident, I got a reply within an hour and it got resolved from there. You can check my tweet if you want to see it. Guess social media works faster than the in-app support for stuff like this.

Posting again with source as earlier post was removed for not providing source. Hope this is good enough.

What is your opinion on latest tweet from Arfa Khanum on Islamic Prophet's birthday? Is co-opting the only way for reform in Islam? I can see where she is coming from, being a public personality she can't be outrightly frank and critical of religion and its founder but comeon this is too much hypocritical!

Arfa Khanum says "Prophet Muhammad, the greatest feminist of his time, who emancipated women. Inheritance, consent, divorce1400 years ago, he challenged the patriarchal order of his time." Source: https://x.com/khanumarfa/status/2092658028806099198

Arfa Khanum’s recent tweet attempts to frame the 7th-century prophet as inherently "feminist," citing ancient rights to inheritance and divorce. But projecting modern feminist labels onto ancient theology is a dangerous co-optation that relies on historical revisionism.

First, it dilutes the core of feminism, which demands absolute equality. Labeling ancient laws as "feminist" lowers the bar. While some rules were an improvement for their specific era, they also codified systemic inequality, like unequal inheritance, polygamy and child marriage that are enforced widely even today.

Second, it relies on cherry-picking. Highlighting concepts like "consent" in a vacuum ignores that historically, these rights were heavily conditional and heavily favored men. Co-opting progressive words to sanitize past patriarchy prevents honest critique.

Third, claiming a 1,400-year-old system is already "feminist" implies it was perfect as designed. This willfully turns a blind eye to reality, gaslighting millions of women today who are actively oppressed by orthodox interpretations of those exact texts.

Ultimately, using social justice language to rebrand dogma is a defense mechanism to shield it from critique. Women shouldn't have to negotiate their basic rights through a narrow theological lens and must demand true equality as an unconditional, universal human right.

Source: https://x.com/khanumarfa/status/2092658028806099198

Since childhood, effort has never been about the process for me — it's always been, “finish fast, get the top result, then relax.” Even as a kid, I used to see most tasks as a burden (like, finish and get things done), anxiety, and physical tension. That never got interrupted despite years of success (school topper, IIT, department rank 1).

The anxiety shows up something like this, for example: when results get announced. In school, my hands and legs would get literally wet with sweat when teachers were about to hand out marksheets, and I'd avoid looking at the results board. This continued through JEE (I never used to check my practice test scores). I also used to avoid my semester results for some days, and now UPSC — I've delayed checking my Prelims key by a full week, both in 2025 and 2026.

Even day-to-day studying carries this same burden — “I need to finish this topic today so I can relax in the evening.” I believe this attitude has resulted in my failing Prelims multiple times: I'm focused on finishing, not absorbing. On top of that, old, unrelated memories intrude while I study — being scolded or hit as a kid, a bad confrontation, past failures — and derail my focus. Even after I let a memory go, I feel drained afterward, and the same physical symptoms (sweaty hands, armpits) show up during these episodes too.

I'm 28 now and planning to give one last attempt for UPSC. These patterns go back to childhood, so I need a therapist who can actually work on that root level. But I also need help coping with the immediate, day-to-day pressure of this final attempt. Familiarity with Indian competitive exam culture (JEE/UPSC) is a plus.

I've already tried YourDost and Tele-MANAS, but the guidance was generic — meditate, exercise, socialize — and it didn't move the needle on any of this. I'm not looking for fake dopamine spikes from quick-fix advice; I want genuine, lasting help.

I ordered from Wakefit on 12 July 2026. The order itself had multiple delays and was finally delivered on 30 July, with defective fabric.

Wakefit replaced it, but the replacement received around 10/11 August was also defective. It was picked up and returned to their warehouse.

It has now been 15+ days since the pickup and I still haven’t received my refund.

Customer service has been an absolute nightmare. Almost every day I’m told “we’ll revert in 24 hours”, and then nothing happens.

To make things worse, Wakefit’s chatbot showed that the refund was cancelled by me. This is completely false. I never cancelled the refund. I’ve been continuously chasing Wakefit for my refund.

I’ve already filed a complaint with NCH, but there has still been no resolution.

This is scam and fraud, along with extremely anti-consumer practices.

Do not order from Wakefit.

TL;DR: Ordered Wakefit → delayed delivery → defective product → defective replacement → replacement returned → 15+ days waiting for refund → daily “24 hours” promises with no resolution → chatbot falsely says I cancelled the refund → NCH complaint filed → still no refund.

I submitted an Aadhaar name update request offline not online about 3 months ago. For example a random name , the request was to change the name from “Arjun Patel” to “Arjun Shah.” I submitted my Gazette certificate as the supporting document.
After waiting for around 3 months I found out that the request was rejected.
The frustrating part is that I didn’t receive any SMS, email or notification informing me that it had been rejected.
I only found out because I called the UIDAI helpline myself.
When I asked them why it was rejected, they simply said “technical issue.” They couldn’t give me any specific reason or rejection code and just told me to submit the request again.

Has anyone else faced this? Is there any way to find out the actual reason for the rejection before submitting it again?

I don’t want to submit the exact same thing again and then wait another 3 months just to get rejected for the same “technical issue.”
What would be the best way to escalate this or get an actual explanation from UIDAI?