Bryan Johnson recently sparked quite the internet storm when it came to light that the tech millionaire and dedicated biohacker had chosen to cut short his appearance on the Longevity episode of Indian billionaire Nikhil Kamath's WTF podcast, walking out. The reason? Bryan, who sat as part of the round table discussion wearing a mask, was unable to contend with the harsh AQI levels, even in a room armed with air purifiers, including his own.
What this led to inevitably, was a debate tossing between Bryan's walk out being an overreaction considering the fact that India's deteriorating AQI is a well-known fact versus how dangerously toxic unclean air is and the country's inability to fix this pressing problem. After making his way back to the United States, Bryan explained his version of events and why walking out seemed to be the best option on the table for him. Excerpts from his PSA, if we can call it that, read, "When in India, I did end this podcast early due to the bad air quality...The problem was that the room we were in circulated outside air which made the air purifier I'd brought with me ineffective. Inside, the AQI was 130 and PM2.5 was 75 µg/m³, which is equal to smoking 3.4 cigarettes for 24 hours of exposure. This was my third day in India and the air pollution had made my skin break out in rash and my eyes and throat burn...". Bryan's post went on to explain how it was of paramount importance for India to commence fixing the AQI issue. He also emphasised how Nikhil has been an incredibly gracious host, thereby doing away with any speculations of a tiff.
The internet of course went hammer and tong over Bryan's sudden exit, a debate which the biohacker has now chosen to partake in, that too, armed with a Bollywood meme! Sharing a reel which shows Bryan sitting with his mask on with the caption 'Bryan Johnson in 130 AQI' mirrored along side a clip of Darsheel Safary's Ishaan from Taare Zameen Par (2007) lost in his dreams with the caption 'Delhites in 300 AQI', he wrote: "A firestorm of debate has ignited in India since I walked off a podcast due to the poor air quality. Indians, organize yourselves and take action. You will do more to improve India’s health by cleaning up the air than by curing cancer".
{{/usCountry}}The internet of course went hammer and tong over Bryan's sudden exit, a debate which the biohacker has now chosen to partake in, that too, armed with a Bollywood meme! Sharing a reel which shows Bryan sitting with his mask on with the caption 'Bryan Johnson in 130 AQI' mirrored along side a clip of Darsheel Safary's Ishaan from Taare Zameen Par (2007) lost in his dreams with the caption 'Delhites in 300 AQI', he wrote: "A firestorm of debate has ignited in India since I walked off a podcast due to the poor air quality. Indians, organize yourselves and take action. You will do more to improve India’s health by cleaning up the air than by curing cancer".
{{/usCountry}}While Bryan's take on the whole AQI fiasco in India is valid, what do you think of his Bollywood-style response?