What do Bill Gates, Anand Mahindra and Sachin Tendulkar have in common? An e-rickshaw drag race, if we’re lucky!

Right when you think you've seen it all, Bill Gates noiselessly whizzes into your Instagram feed on an electric auto rickshaw, Babu Samjho Ishare blaring. We're so glad this isn't hyperbole.

On Sunday, Microsoft co-founder and one of the biggest supporters of clean energy and sustainable development, Bill Gates, quite nonchalantly posted a video of himself driving a rather sleek-looking blue and white electric rickshaw through what appeared to be Haryana streets. The internet loved it, quite obviously.

The video begins with Gates admiring himself in the Mahindra Treo's circular mirror, with the caption: "What has 3 wheels, 0 emissions, and makes no noise?". Soon after, he twirls the key and honks for a quick horn test before departing on his voyage through Indian roads and traffic like a dashing auto driver on the way to his company's board meeting.

As you might've guessed, the video is a not-so-subtle showcase and nod towards India's net-zero journey. Captions on the video note how we need to "reinvent everything, from agriculture to transportation".

And this is true: our gradual but essential move to electric vehicles is one of the biggest investments we can make in reducing our carbon footprints. Of course, e-vehicles don't entirely cut carbon out of the loop. Still, the shift does take away a significant incentive from oil companies to continue business as usual, which is incredibly important to shift to cleaner power sources.

The video's popularity even reached the likes of Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, who added to the antics. He reposted the video on his Twitter, challenging Bill Gates and Sachine Tendulkar to a 3-wheeler EV drag race, prefacing it with the clever "Chalti ka Naam Bill Gates ki Gaadi".

This whole ordeal is part of Bill Gates' recent trip to India, where he met with many of our leaders from many fields, including the likes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Anand Mahindra himself.

He notes: "India as a whole gives me hope for the future. It's about to become the world's most populous country, which means you can't solve most problems there without solving them at scale. And yet, India has proven it can tackle big challenges. The country eradicated polio, lowered HIV transmission, reduced poverty, cut infant mortality, and increased access to sanitation and financial services."

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