Congress MP Shashi Tharoor ’s latest literary flourish wasn’t about foreign policy or parliamentary debates, but about idlis. After a user on X (formerly Twitter ) derided the South Indian breakfast staple as “steamed regret,” Tharoor unleashed a defence so elaborate that it compared the dish to a Beethoven symphony, a Tagore sangeet, an MF Husain painting, and a Sachin Tendulkar century.

What happened?

“A truly great idli is a cloud, a whisper, a perfect dream of the perfectibility of human civilisation,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP wrote, describing the rice-and-lentil delicacy as “sublime” and “ethereal.”

Swiggy’s reaction

The ode quickly went viral, sparking memes and retweets across social media. And then came the brand intervention. On Sunday, Swiggy decided to turn words into

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