Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
What makes you tap and read a story? Is it the personal stakes, the political updates, or the cultural takes? We published hundreds of articles in 2025. The following five commanded your attention.
When Sending Money Home Got Complicated
The story on the 3.5% tax on remittances sent abroad by foreign workers, green card, and temporary H1B visa holders landed at the top of our charts. Buried in the expansive “One Big Beautiful” bill was a little-noticed provision that could have major consequences for the Indian diaspora. For India—the world’s leading recipient of remittances—the proposed tax could have had far-reaching economic and social effects, experts cautioned. At an American Community Media (ACoM) briefing titled Taxing Remittances—A New Front in War on Immigrants, experts warned the tax would harm economies abroad, especially in lower-income countries where remittances account for up to 30% of GDP.
Yes, You Can Be Deported—Even as a Citizen
On June 11, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a memo that sent ripples through immigrant communities across America. It quietly declared denaturalization — the revocation of U.S. citizenship from naturalized citizens — a “top-five priority.” This policy is more than just a legal technicality—it’s a threat, said ACoM.
A Rare Policy Victory
After months of distressing immigration news, readers embraced a story about the Trump administration backing down—sort of. In April, the Social Security Administration backed off a plan it announced in March to withhold 100% of many beneficiaries’ monthly payments to claw back money the government had allegedly overpaid them.
Pen Could Be Mightier Than The Keyboard
Mukund Acharya’s meditation on the lost art of handwriting clearly struck a nerve with our readers. In today’s frenzied, AI-fueled, social media, fast-paced content age, he reminded us of a practice that helps us slow down and savor the present.
And science says it: the physical act of forming letters engages multiple brain regions and offers therapeutic benefits that can help reduce stress and anxiety. Studies have also shown that handwriting acts as a therapeutic tool, providing emotional and psychological benefits. It is a mechanism for emotional release and reduces stress and anxiety. Plus, it can strengthen self-awareness and promote a sense of accomplishment.
Chasing Literary Ghosts in Shimla
Sometimes we need stories that transport us to rain-washed colonial bridges where fictional betrayals still echo, to cafes decorated with vintage rotary phones, to heritage that bridges past and present. As Deepanwita Gita Niyogi tried to scratch a literary itch, tracing Kipling’s “The Phantom Rickshaw” in Shimla, she discovered a city that is a heady mix of the old and the humdrum of the new.
What These Stories Tell Us
There’s clearly a thread connecting what you loved reading this year: belonging, the importance of preserving what matters —citizenship, health, heritage— and perseverance in an uncertain world.
As we close this year, we’re reminded that India Currents exists at the intersection of these concerns—the political and the personal, the urgent and the contemplative, the American and the Indian.
So what will 2026 bring?
The new year awaits, full of stories we haven’t written yet and questions we haven’t asked.
What should we be paying attention to?
Whether you’re sitting on a great story, concerned about an issue, or simply curious about something nobody’s covering—drop us a line: prachi@indiacurrents.com.
The next year’s most important stories might start with you.