Introducing Santosh: The Doha Barista Who Stole Qatari Hearts

If you haven't heard of Santosh, you probably either don't have a TikTok account or don't use social media that often. But the reality remains that one South Asian gentleman who works at Starbucks has taken Qatari TikTok by storm overnight.

The funny thing is, he has no idea why or how.

So one question remains: who is Santosh and why is Qatari TikTok obsessed with him?

It all began with one video an 18-year-old user named Bassel Ghazal posted, where he was visibly (albeit sarcastically) infatuated with the lanky South Asian barista. Honestly, he is kind of cute...but we digress.

@bassel_ghazal SANTOSH AGAIN!!😜😜#foryourpage#qatar🇶🇦 #fyp #rizzler #fypシ゚viral #whitetee #drivethru #rizz #foryoupag #starbucks ♬ original sound - bassel ghazal

Now it's plain to see that Santosh was pretty uncomfortable with the level of attention he was receiving to say the least.

And it definitely didn't stop there. Users from all over Doha started resharing the video and  paying Santosh a visit themselves.

@wasted.qa Santosh 😉#qatar #starbucks #dxb #rizz #santosh #rizzler #qatar🇶🇦 #doha ♬ original sound - lisu edits

The same user ended up revisiting the Starbucks branch a few times. Each time, making sure to snap a clip with the barista. Was he in love? Just bored? Odds are he thought it was funny. We'll never know.

@bassel_ghazal #rizz #fyp #qatar🇶🇦 #foryourpage #xyzbca #foryourpage #foryoupag #fypシ #drivethru #whitetee #starbucks #rizzler ♬ original sound - bassel ghazal

People have chimed in to say that this was a clear display of bullying, while others dismissed the social media trend as harmless fun intended to show admiration for the barista. If you ask us, it's a great (and obnxious) example of adolescent male humour. #LEAVESANTOSHALONE!

@bassel_ghazal #foryou #starbucks #xyzbca #fypシ #foryoupage #qatar🇶🇦 #fypシ゚viral #rizz #rizzler #whitetee #drivethru ♬ White Tee - Summer Walker & NO1-NOAH

In the end, the user who started it all ended up paying another visit to Santosh to show Qatari users that it was all meant to be fun and games, and that Santosh bears no hard feelings towards the trend.

The videos have been reposted across many different accounts, with many users snapping clips of Santosh from far away or even of him working at the branch's drive thru counter.

Some of the TikToks have gotten as much as 16 million views, so it's safe to say that Santosh has become one of the biggest social media trends that has gone viral in Doha in some time.

Does this mean Santosh will end up with a modelling contract? Will he guest appear on Ellen? Who knows what's to come...