In the midst of the pandemic, a notification popped up on my Twitter feed. A professor in the western state of Maharashtra, Dr. Ajay Koli, had frantically tagged a number of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. Koli is an active member of the Twitterati who uses the platform to expose social injustice, and in particular caste struggles. This time, however, his post was more a plea for help than a clarion call for justice. He had just lost his father to COVID-19 and now his mother was ill with the disease. Her oxygen levels were dangerously low. Koli pleaded for help: “I do not want to lose my mom now.” He campaigned for access to oxygen cylinders in Southwest Delhi. As the plea circulated through the Twittersphere, the New York Times reported the story under the headline “One Son’s 48-Hour Fight to Save His Parents” (Singh).
This incident might...
