Anand Mahindra Downloads Arattai With 'Pride', Zoho's Sridhar Vembu Reacts

Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, has come out in support of Zoho's Arattai -- the instant messaging app being touted as a Made-in-India alternative to WhatsApp. Taking to social media, the billionaire industrialist said he had downloaded the app 'with pride', leading to a heartwarming interaction with Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu.

“Downloaded Arattai today… With pride," wrote Mahindra on X (formerly Twitter) as Vembu, the brains behind the 'Swadeshi' app, responded with a gracious message.

“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. Thank you, Anand Mahindra this gives us even more determination," wrote Vembu.

In what turned into a heartwarming conversation, Mahindra quoted Vembu's post saying: “We're cheering for you, @svembu”.

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.

Thank you @anandmahindra
this gives us even more determination 🙏 https://t.co/5MtyhTkRZf

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) October 4, 2025

Arattai vs WhatsApp?

For years, WhatsApp has held an unshakable monopoly in the messaging space, with over half a billion active users in India. Amid the new wave of the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' campaign, Arattai has emerged as a tough competitor, seeking to take on the global behemoth.

In recent days, Arattai has witnessed a massive surge in usage. According to Vembu, the app recorded a 100x increase in traffic within just three days, with new sign-ups rising dramatically from 3,000 per day to 350,000 per day.

Last month, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urged users to switch to Arattai, describing it as "free, easy-to-use, secure, safe, and made in India."

What Is Arattai?

Arattai means "casual chat" in Tamil. Much like WhatsApp, Arattai allows users to:

• Text and voice messages
• Voice and video calls
• Photo, video, and document sharing
• Stories, groups, and channels
• Multi-device support across smartphones, tablets, and desktops (up to five devices at a time)

Unlike WhatsApp's parent company, Meta, which shares user data for targeted advertising. Arattai also stores all user data in Indian data centres.