The trend originated on TikTok with #delulu raking in over 1.3 billion views, and then spread via screenshots and reels to Twitter and Instagram.

Priyal Pandey, a law student from Navi Mumbai, first caught delulu on Twitter. “It was against the backdrop of the Venus retrograde where celebrities such as Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande broke up with their partners,” says the 22-year-old. “Netizens, especially young women, began feeling disillusioned about romance and love, and started creating fantastical, imaginary expectations of love, which transmuted into being ‘delulu’.”

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Ayush Guha and Shradha Saxena

One aspect of delulu is young women describing their ideal partner, who exists only in their mind; or twisting the reality of their relationship. An Instagram post reads, “My red flags are heart-shaped <3”. That’s delulu in an emoticon.

Is this problematic as a coping mechanism glossing over red flags and real issues in a relationship? Pandey doesn’t think so: “It’s funny to be delusional and exaggerate situations in your life. That’s all it is.”

Comedian Mohammed Hussain also finds being positively delusional about one’s life, hilarious. To him, delulu is just an extension of the “grindset mindset” which has been around for as long as pretentious “professional hustlers”.  “It’s just a new label for ‘fake it till you make it’,” says the Jogeshwari resident, “You have to be delusional to quit your job and become a stand-up comic, for example. You have to be delusional to think you’re important enough to make it. Delusion breeds confidence.”

There’s a deeper take as well. Lead strategist Shradha Saxena, who studies Gen-Z behaviour and attitudes, says they tend to use such terms to amuse themselves, but also to make a point in an absurd way. “Gen Z romanticises everything about their life,” says the Delhi professional, “They will romanticise being broke, or laughing about the trauma of being in a toxic relationship… it’s all about living life, even though everything around you is on fire.” This, according to Saxena, is their newest form of self-care. “Nothing makes sense anymore in their world,” says the 29-year-old, “That’s why they want to dream or indulge a little everyday to glam up their daily routines. All the good things happen in our heads; all the bad things happen in our lives. Finding meaning in nothing is something Gen Z does really well.  There is a very strong desire in them to stand out and be authentic, as opposed to millennials, who were told to fit in.”

These aspirations amplify and project through their social media personality, according to Ayush Guha. However, manifestations are one thing, putting in the actual work is another. “Posting it on social media won’t change anything,” says Guha, who is the business head for HYPP, a talent management and influencer marketing agency, “That said, the scene is different from what it was a decade ago. Many career roles are undefined; professions aren’t as structured as they used to be.” 

Gen Z is making the most of this hazy landscape, he says, experimenting online to test the waters and push the limits of this virtual world, which they have more control and agency over.

Pandey applies the delulu mindset to life: The law industry has been affected by a slew of layoffs and recession, but she’s forged ahead in spite of anxiety, applying for the jobs with a vengeance. While it’s easy to get internships, she says, law firms and companies are sceptical about hiring newbies right now, and there’s a lot of competition for the top spots. “I was like, forget it, I’ll apply anyway. I’ll be delusional about it—kya hi ho jayega,” she says. “And it actually helped! I have a few important interviews lined up now.” 

So, is being delulu the solulu (GenZ for ‘the only solution’) to the majority of our problems? Hussain, who’s been a comedian for five years, says it is. “For the longest time, I was waiting for the right kind of joke, or getting enough material. If I hadn’t believed [I was limited by] these barriers, maybe I would be more established than I am now. You have to be delusional and take that leap of faith.”