"Veg Food, SpaceX Branded Chopsticks": Oyo Founder Raves About Meeting Elon Musk

A delegation of prominent Indian business leaders, including OYO Founder & Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal and author Amish Tripathi, were hosted by Elon Musk at SpaceX's Starbase facility in Texas. The event, organised by the India Global Forum (IGF), provided a platform for discussions on a wide spectrum of subjects, encompassing technological advancements, spiritual perspectives, and the possibilities of interplanetary exploration.

Musk's fascination with India's cultural heritage was evident throughout the interaction. Author Amish Tripathi, recognizing this interest, extended an invitation to Musk to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela, the world's largest human gathering. Tripathi expressed hope that Musk would consider attending this unique and profound event.

"We discussed topics ranging from spirituality, consciousness, interplanetary travel, monetary policy, and engineering. And an invitation to the Maha Kumbh Mela! Hope he can make it!!" Mr Tripathi wrote on X.

Ritesh Agarwal shared details about the evening, emphasizing that the delegation was served an exclusively vegetarian dinner. "One of the most incredible veg spreads at SpaceX. As a vegetarian, I loved it," he posted on X. Mr Agarwal highlighted Elon Musk's strong emphasis on fostering collaboration between governments and businesses, stating, "The ability to work with the government to ensure justice and progress is something very close to his heart."

Had the opportunity to be among the Indian founders hosted by @Elonmusk led by @IGFupdates . Elon is by far doing the most to evolve human kind or as Peter Thiel says has us closest to getting flying cars.
Some comments from Elon -

A. India evokes the emotion of Ancient and… pic.twitter.com/IuHvnHV1YA

— Ritesh Agarwal (@riteshagar) January 17, 2025

As part of the visit, the delegation received SpaceX-branded chopsticks as a memento, celebrating the successful return of the Super Heavy booster, caught by "Mechazilla," the metal arms of SpaceX's launch tower. The group also had the rare opportunity to witness the launch and booster recovery of SpaceX's Starship Flight 7, gaining firsthand insight into the company's groundbreaking advancements in space technology.

During a moderated discussion, Musk emphasised the potential for deeper collaboration between the United States and India, particularly in the technology and space exploration sectors.

"Things are trending positive. I'm certainly in favour of lowering trade barriers to increase commerce between the US and India," Musk was quoted as saying during the session.

He went on to describe India as "one of the ancient civilisations and a very great and very complex one". The entrepreneur behind automotive major Tesla and social media platform X interacted with Indian business chiefs from across diverse sectors on the role of technology and India's growing role in the global innovation landscape.

The IGF delegation to Musk's Starbase in Texas also included Prashant Ruia, Director - Essar Capital; Jay Kotak, Co-Head - Kotak811;  Kalyan Raman, CEO - Flipkart; Aryaman Birla, Director - Aditya Birla Management Corporation Private Limited; Nilesh Ved, Chairman - Apparel Group.