Indian Twitter users joked and outraged about a variety of provocations this year: British Airways losing the baggage of a relative of cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, a fake Arnab Goswami account, a Communist Party of India leader's crude remarks about adult entertainment star Sunny Leone. There was also anguish about cricket and various Bollywood personalities.
But looking through the archives, it was clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi dominated conversations on Twitter. Every move of his was dissected. What did it mean that his plane was parked next to US President Barack Obama's at the G20 meet in November? Had he really desecrated the national flag? How could he claim that Indians were ashamed of their country until he came to power?
Here are some things that pushed Twitter users' buttons this year.
1) Photoshopped image of Prime Minister Modi inspecting Chennai brightens bleak day on Twitter
A photograph of Modi conducting an aerial survey of the Chennai floods was photoshopped by the Press Information Bureau to ensure that the flood waters on the ground became clearly visible. After questions about the authenticity of the image were raised, the PIB deleted the image. Twitter could not stop laughing and generating memes using the altered image.
2) Vijay Mallya gets roasted for flip-flop on Yuvraj Singh in IPL auctions
In February, Vijay Mallya, owner of the Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bangalore, decided to bid for Yuvraj Singh only two months after having released the batsman from his team. The acerbic tweets flowed quickly.
3) Twitter celebrates Shikhar Dhawan's ton
Shikhar Dhawan's century against South Africa during the world cup in February garnered a lot of attention on Twitter. He not only turned the tide of a struggling Indian innings against the strong South African bowling, but also managed to break a few records while he was at it.
4) Twitter mocks #AAPBreakUp
When Twitter got wind of infighting in the Aam Aadmi Party in March, it didn't take long for the hashtag #AAPBreakUp to start trending. This came after senior party members like Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, accused of anti-party activities, issued a statement refuting the allegations while listing out reasons for their differences. According to the two, the rift within the party was formed after Kejriwal allegedly proposed the idea of forming a government with Congress' support.
5) Twitter has discovered most things in the Modi propaganda video aren't Indian at all
In November, a music video singing praises of Prime Minister Modi was produced by Censor Board Chief Pahlaj Nihalani. The video highlighted some of Modi's pet programmes – Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan, Make in India. However, Twitter users were quick to notice that most of the visuals that the video passed off as India’s achievements under Modi were stock photos shot in other countries.
6) Photos: So why was #BecauseOfNehru trending? Why, #BecauseOfNehru, of course!
The hashtag #BecauseOfNehru trended on Twitter on March 15. It was neither the birthday nor any anniversary of the first prime minister of India. Nobody seemed sure why exactly his happened.
7) Chetan Bhagat asks what historians do, gets a beating on Twitter
In October, author Chetan Bhagat criticised writers and filmmakers who returned their national awards to protest what they claimed was the growing intolerance in India. In one of his tweets he made remarks about the protest by 53 of the country's leading historians against Bharatiya Janata Party's attempts to rewrite history. "What do historians do?" he asked. Twitter users buried him under a mountain of ridicule.
8) 'India saw its first driverless car much before Google': Twitter trolls Salman Khan's acquittal
Earlier this month, the Bombay High Court acquitted actor Salman Khan of all charges in the 2002 hit-and-run case, when his Toyota SUV crashed into a group of people sleeping on the sidewalk in Mumbai. One person died and four were seriously injured. Social media wasn’t pleased that the actor was let off, responding with dark humour and sarcasm.
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But looking through the archives, it was clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi dominated conversations on Twitter. Every move of his was dissected. What did it mean that his plane was parked next to US President Barack Obama's at the G20 meet in November? Had he really desecrated the national flag? How could he claim that Indians were ashamed of their country until he came to power?
Here are some things that pushed Twitter users' buttons this year.
1) Photoshopped image of Prime Minister Modi inspecting Chennai brightens bleak day on Twitter
A photograph of Modi conducting an aerial survey of the Chennai floods was photoshopped by the Press Information Bureau to ensure that the flood waters on the ground became clearly visible. After questions about the authenticity of the image were raised, the PIB deleted the image. Twitter could not stop laughing and generating memes using the altered image.
2) Vijay Mallya gets roasted for flip-flop on Yuvraj Singh in IPL auctions
In February, Vijay Mallya, owner of the Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bangalore, decided to bid for Yuvraj Singh only two months after having released the batsman from his team. The acerbic tweets flowed quickly.
3) Twitter celebrates Shikhar Dhawan's ton
Shikhar Dhawan's century against South Africa during the world cup in February garnered a lot of attention on Twitter. He not only turned the tide of a struggling Indian innings against the strong South African bowling, but also managed to break a few records while he was at it.
4) Twitter mocks #AAPBreakUp
When Twitter got wind of infighting in the Aam Aadmi Party in March, it didn't take long for the hashtag #AAPBreakUp to start trending. This came after senior party members like Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, accused of anti-party activities, issued a statement refuting the allegations while listing out reasons for their differences. According to the two, the rift within the party was formed after Kejriwal allegedly proposed the idea of forming a government with Congress' support.
5) Twitter has discovered most things in the Modi propaganda video aren't Indian at all
In November, a music video singing praises of Prime Minister Modi was produced by Censor Board Chief Pahlaj Nihalani. The video highlighted some of Modi's pet programmes – Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan, Make in India. However, Twitter users were quick to notice that most of the visuals that the video passed off as India’s achievements under Modi were stock photos shot in other countries.
6) Photos: So why was #BecauseOfNehru trending? Why, #BecauseOfNehru, of course!
The hashtag #BecauseOfNehru trended on Twitter on March 15. It was neither the birthday nor any anniversary of the first prime minister of India. Nobody seemed sure why exactly his happened.
7) Chetan Bhagat asks what historians do, gets a beating on Twitter
In October, author Chetan Bhagat criticised writers and filmmakers who returned their national awards to protest what they claimed was the growing intolerance in India. In one of his tweets he made remarks about the protest by 53 of the country's leading historians against Bharatiya Janata Party's attempts to rewrite history. "What do historians do?" he asked. Twitter users buried him under a mountain of ridicule.
8) 'India saw its first driverless car much before Google': Twitter trolls Salman Khan's acquittal
Earlier this month, the Bombay High Court acquitted actor Salman Khan of all charges in the 2002 hit-and-run case, when his Toyota SUV crashed into a group of people sleeping on the sidewalk in Mumbai. One person died and four were seriously injured. Social media wasn’t pleased that the actor was let off, responding with dark humour and sarcasm.
