Hyderabad: Aside from searching for truth in politics and progress in the country, Indians spend a lot of time searching for things on Google. Google trends of 2021 take us through a flashback of the year. This year we asked Google for more ‘Hows’ than ever.
Google tells us that Indians yet again turned to one religion to find relief in difficult times, with India vs Australia being the most-searched-for term, globally, this year. The Indian Premier League (IPL) and the ICC world cup made it to the top 5 trending terms in the country, as the IPL maintained its top spot this year, again.
Amidst the second wave in March, the country turned towards vaccinations to protect themselves and the lives of near and dear ones. The CoWIN website stands second on the list of trending terms (overall) this year. However, for the longest time, all people managed to get from CoWIN was an OTP and not a real vaccine.
‘Personalities’ trending in 2021
Taking a break from our political leaders, Indians turned towards better sportsmen. The Euro Cup and Tokyo Olympics made it to the fourth and fifth spots on the list, with field and track gold medalist athlete, Neeraj Chopra, being the most searched personality.
Aryan Khan made it to the third most searched personality globally and second most popular search in India. Once again, Google proved that Indians take Bollywood far more seriously than they do their farmers.
Shehnaaz Gill, Raj Kundra, and Elon Musk followed Khan on the list of personalities.
“Lights! Camera! Google!”
The November release ‘Jai Bheem’ made it to the top of the list of the most searched movies in the country. Unlike the Indian judiciary, the movie offered hope and promise to almost everyone who watched it.
Siddharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani starrer ‘Shershaah’ stood second on the list beating Salman Khan’s Radhe, on the third spot. Bell Bottom and Eternals hold the fourth and fifth spots on the list.
Moods of food:
As foodies across the world search for Birria Tacos to quench their need for meat, Enoki Mushrooms were the most searched food items in the country followed by Modak, Methi Matar Malai, Palak, and chicken soup.
The sadder parts of Google trends:
On more serious fronts, Indians searched for COVID vaccines and COVID tests followed by food deliveries, oxygen cylinders, and COVID hospitals ‘near’ them, to meet their basic needs.
COVID continues: Indians ask ‘How to…?’
Indians like the rest of the world asked Google more hows than ever as they struggled to ‘register for COVID-19 vaccines’ and ‘download vaccination certificates’. Helpless as the country suffered from insufficient oxygen supplies as the pandemic hit another high in April, people searched for a way to ‘Increase Oxygen levels’.
Indians also searched for methods to “link Aadhar and Pan cards”, at a peak between April 28 to March 3, as the country extended the deadline by a few months in view of the pandemic.
People also turned to Google so as to learn and make ‘oxygen at home’ as patients and their families suffered during the country’s oxygen crisis.
The Whats’ we asked in 2021
As the pandemic escalated to bring variants and additional diseases, the searches for ‘what is black fungus’ increased, between May 16 and 22. Indians also searched for the “factorial of Hundred” which landed second on the list.
As the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August for a second term, Indians searched for ‘Taliban’ and ‘happenings in Afghanistan, third and fourth on the list of ‘What is’ followed by searches for the antiviral injection, ‘Remdisivir’.
Inform, Educate and Entertain
The need to be connected to the physically distanced world compelled Indians to search for ‘news’ on the Tokyo Olympics, Black Fungus, and Afghanistan. Politics is a never-dying topic in the country as Indians searched for ‘West Bengal Elections’ the fourth on the list, followed by ‘Tropical cyclone Tauktae’.