“Kuchu puchu” videos are the latest trending reels on Instagram and Snapchat. Featuring cutesy, AI-generated toddlers mouthing over-the-top sweet declarations in baby voices, the reels have become a social media obsession. Couples are tagging each other, friends are jokingly declaring one another their “kuchu puchu”, and even pet owners are dedicating the videos to their dogs and cats.
The Internet’s Newest Obsession
The reels come in several variations, but they all revolve around exaggerated affection. The most popular version features an AI-generated toddler saying, “Kuchu puchu tum kaha ho? Mujhe accha nahi lag raha tumhare bina. Kab baat karoge mujhse? Mere pyaare pyaare kuchu puchu.” Another playfully asks, “Kuchu puchu, tum aur kisse baat karte ho? Mujhe pata hai tumhare paas aur bhi bubu hai,” mimicking the kind of clingy, possessive banter often exchanged between loved ones.
Take a look at one of the versions of the trending reel:
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Chetan Goel’s Theory- Every Man Is A ‘Kuchu Puchu’ Inside
But while most people see them as harmless, internet humour, content creator Chetan Goel believes the trend is revealing something much deeper about men.
In a reel analysing the trend, Goel claims it is men, perhaps even more than women, who are quietly hooked on to these videos.
“Mujhe lagta hai ladkiyon se zyaada na ladke iss reel ko enjoy kar rahe hain,” he says, adding that many men experience a strange sense of happiness watching them, even if they cannot explain why.
His answer, he argues, has less to do with cute AI babies and more to do with what those videos represent.
Let’s take a look at what Chetan has said:
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According to Goel, the “Kuchu Puchu” reels portray something many men secretly long for- pure, uncomplicated affection.
“Har ladke ko na at the end of the day life mein yehi chahiye. Pure, unadulterated love from someone and to give this love to someone,” he says.
He points to another recurring genre of videos which features young fathers with their little daughters, often captioned “all men cried here”. Men, he says, watch these clips, relate to them and even become emotional, but rarely admit it publicly.
“Ladke iss content ko openly comment naa kare, kyunki phir wo machoism unka khatam ho jayega.”
The problem, according to Goel, isn’t that men don’t feel deeply. It’s that they’re conditioned to hide those feelings.
He is also careful to clarify that he is not romanticising men.
“Main bilkul nahi bol raha ki ladke sant hain… ladke harami hi hain, kutte hi hain hum,” he says, adding that men can absolutely behave badly. His point is simply that “ladko ka dil bhi toot ta hai“, men’s hearts break too, whether through their own mistakes or someone else’s.
Goel believes the reason that heartbreak often remains invisible lies in the pressures many men grow up with.
“Itna pressure hota hai career ka, paise kamaane ka, maa-baap ke sapne poore karne ka, apne sapne poore karne ka...”
Interestingly, Goel’s observation echoes findings from a recent Harvard Kennedy School working paper on masculinity in India. Surveying over 1,200 Indian men aged 18–30, researchers found that “responsibility” was the trait most commonly associated with being a man. Nearly three-fourths also felt achieving financial security had become harder than it was for their parents, creating what the researchers describe as a “provider role-opportunity mismatch”, where expectations remain high even as opportunities become more uncertain.
Similar questions are increasingly surfacing online. On Reddit communities such as r/AskIndianMen, a thread titled, “Why are Indian men scared to go for therapy?”, one user wrote that “the conditioning of men has always been to toughen up, sit through it, get over it, etc etc. It’s not like they’re resisting therapy, but they’re too hard wired to keep trying to solve things themself.”
While anecdotal, the discussion reflects the kinds of concerns Goel raises about how boys and men are socialised to deal with emotional distress.
Goel makes a similar point when he says, “Humein therapy toh aaj tak sikhayi nahi gayi.”
Goel argues that when those emotions eventually overflow, they may surface through unhealthy coping mechanisms, including alcohol, drugs or casual hookups, while stressing that individuals remain responsible for their actions.
His conclusion is simple. Strip away the constant pressure to perform, make emotional support more acceptable, and “har ladka andar se kuchu puchu hi hai.”
Read more: “Mardangi Kya Hai:” Comic Mardon Wali Baat Looks At Toxic Masculinity In India
What Psychology Says About Emotional Suppression
Goel’s explanation is based on personal observation rather than scientific research. But the questions he raises about masculinity, emotional suppression and the burden of being expected to always stay strong have been studied extensively by psychologists and sociologists.
Psychiatrist Dr Arun B. Nair believes many of these struggles stem from rigid ideas of masculinity.
“The issues that men are facing today stem from the concept of toxic masculinity,” he says. “There is a prototype of masculinity that is celebrated globally, a man who shoulders everything on his own, does not ask for help, does not open up…”
Research published in ScienceDirect offers a similar explanation. It argues that masculine norms are reinforced from childhood, encouraging men to behave in stereotypically masculine ways throughout life. The study notes that, “engrained from a young age, gender norms constantly influence people’s attitudes and actions across their lifespan. Social norms are accepted expectations that control social behaviours and lead men to behave stereotypically masculine.”
The Pressure To Provide And To Stay Strong
Goel also attributes much of men’s emotional burden to the expectation that they should provide.
Research suggests this pressure remains deeply embedded in Indian society. According to the World Values Survey (1995), 54 per cent of respondents in India agreed that if a woman earns more than her husband, it is likely to cause problems.
Such attitudes help explain why many men continue to associate their self-worth with their ability to provide financially.
Goel jokes that therapy remains as distant from many men as “jitna South Delhi, Rohini se door hai.” Beneath the humour lies a familiar pattern.
Research has also documented this pattern in India. A 2025 study by researchers at Christ University, published in the International Journal of Indian Psychology, found that stronger adherence to traditional masculine norms was associated with greater self-stigma around seeking psychological help and more negative attitudes towards therapy among urban Indian men.
Earlier research on Indian men has similarly found that restrictive emotionality, shaped by family expectations, societal norms and fear of being negatively labelled acts as a barrier to both emotional expression and help-seeking.
A Viral Trend Or A Glimpse Into Changing Masculinity?
Goel’s theory cannot explain why every man enjoys “Kuchu Puchu” reels, nor does the available research suggest that all men experience masculinity in the same way.
Nor does it excuse harmful behaviour, a point Goel himself repeatedly emphasises. But the emotional world he describes, a longing for affection hidden beneath expectations of toughness, is one psychologists have been documenting for years.
Whether the “Kuchu Puchu” trend is simply another fleeting internet fad or a small glimpse into changing ideas of masculinity, it raises an interesting question. If men were allowed to be vulnerable without fear of judgement, would expressing affection seem any less unusual than sharing a cute AI baby reel?
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The New Indian Express, The Hindu, The Indian Express
Find the blogger: @diptisadh
This post is tagged under: kuchu puchu, men, toxic mascuilinity, Chetan Goel, Indian men, kuchu puchu reels, AI baby reels, Instagram trends, Instagram reels, snapchat, viral reels, psychology, social media trends, breadwinners, therapy stigma, provider pressure, emotional vulnerability, stoicism, men’s mental health, responsibility, societal expectations, conditioning, emotional suppression, societal norms, family expectations, emotional expression, fear of judgement
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