On December 27, a woman named Charvi shared a photograph on social media. The picture showed her and her friend posing with a man dressed in a Santa Claus costume. “Google, Amazon and Santa all in one frame,” she captioned the picture — referring to the top tech companies where and her friend work.
This simple photograph, and the accompanying caption, made Charvi and her friend the target of brutal trolling online.
Charvi, who works as a software engineer at Amazon, likely did not expect backlash for a seemingly innocuous post. She has since hit back at trolls with a powerful message, pointing out that most of the hate is directed towards her either because of her gender or her nationality.
The trolling she faced
Charvi’s picture has collected thousands of angry comments on the social media platform X. Some critics accused her of milking her position at Amazon for clout, others called her “arrogant”. Still others trolled her as a “diversity hire”.
Some X users asked why she was referring to herself as “Amazon”, wilfully ignoring the lighthearted nature of her post.
“The only thing Indians are capable of defining themselves by is their employer. The moment you remove the employer from an Indian's name, his/her identity becomes non existent. Indians know that their houses will never be as grand as their offices,” read one comment on X.
{{/usCountry}}“The only thing Indians are capable of defining themselves by is their employer. The moment you remove the employer from an Indian's name, his/her identity becomes non existent. Indians know that their houses will never be as grand as their offices,” read one comment on X.
{{/usCountry}}“Bit weird naming yourself Google and Amazon,” another wrote.
“No one is more proud/arrogant than lower & middle level employees at prestigious firms,” a user added.
“Diversity Hires, good for nothing,” one commenter declared.
“Company flex is peak cringe. Meta/Google/Amazon badge doesn't grant invincibility. Grow up,” another said.
Many of the critical comments implied that she was hired for being an Indian, with one reading: “Two diversity hires that most likely got hired by a group of other Indians within the company.”
In fact, “diversity hires” was one of the most often repeated insults in the comments section of the post.
Amazon techie hits back
After facing relentless mocking, Charvi hit back at trolls with a powerful statement.
She pointed out that 99% of the hate she received was either because she is India or because she is a woman.
“This post taught me that this society is still so disgusting. 99% hate comments are either because I’m an Indian or I am woman. People really need to upgrade their mindset to 2025. They’re still shamelessly living with 90s mindset,” she wrote.
Although she again faced trolling, some people voiced their support.
“People are merely jealous, keep doing what you’re doing,” a user wrote. “The amount of hate this girl is getting is insane side on Twitter,” another said.
“I don’t even get their negativity. Your post is so innocuous,” a third person reassured Charvi.