Industrialist Anand Mahindra has apparently become a fan of Zoho’s Arattai, the instant messaging app, which is an alternative to WhatsApp. Why are we saying this? Well, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), he admitted to downloading the app, that too, “with pride”. When Sridhar Vembu reacted to this, saying that he now feels “more determined”, the billionaire businessman shared yet another response, saying that he is rooting for him.
‘Downloaded Arattai…with pride,’ says Anand Mahindra
“Downloaded Arattai today, with pride,” Anand Mahindra wrote online.
Sridhar Vembu, the man behind this Swadeshi app, responded to Anand Mahindra’s post. He expressed that his praise gives him “more determination”.
“I was in a meeting in our Tenkasi office with our Arattai engineers, working out refinements to the app, and a team member showed this tweet,” Sridhar Vembu wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
He added, “Thank you, Anand Mahindra, this gives us even more determination.”
I was in a meeting in our Tenkasi office with our Arattai engineers, working out refinements to the app and a team member showed this tweet.
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) October 4, 2025
Thank you @anandmahindra
this gives us even more determination 🙏 https://t.co/5MtyhTkRZf
While responding to this, Mahindra said, “We’re cheering for you, Sridhar Vembu.”
We’re cheering for you, @svembu https://t.co/41pMr8y1mD
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) October 4, 2025
How did social media users react to this?
One user suggested that privacy should be key to privacy, and listed out three main USPs for Arattai: “Signal-level end-to-end encryption by default in chats. Disappearing messages feature. Blocking in-app chat screenshots (Only Telegram Secret Chat does it today).” Vembu responded to this and said, “Our focus is privacy. We will not adopt a business model that puts privacy at risk.”
Another said, “Sir, the social media business is very ruthless, given their infinite resources to keep the customers intact. They will do what not. I would like your team to also look into that aspect! Make it a fail-safe app so each and every Indian moves to this without hesitation!”
“Are you thinking about making it open source? I would love to contribute to the development and scaling of Arattai,” posted a third.
A fourth commented, “I love it so much when one entrepreneur backs another. This is such an inspiring factor for us.”