Hours after he landed in India on Sunday, French President Francois Hollande set off a storm of chortling after a photograph of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeming to hug his visitor rather awkwardly went viral. Two days later, Hollande's every gesture was under scrutiny as he attended the 67th Republic Day parade in the Capital on Tuesday as the guest of honour.
His seemingly bored expression during the parade elicited some comment on social media.
Hollande is French. Must be feeling really weird to spend a holiday watching entertainment without a glass of wine and a cigarette!
— Sorabh Pant (@hankypanty) January 26, 2016
"If I applaud faster will this end quicker?" - Francois Hollande #LaRépublique2016
— Overrated Outcast (@over_rated) January 26, 2016
DD cameras r trying really hard 2 avoid two very important faces. Hollande luks extremely bored &our President is napping away #RepublicDay
— Mishika Karim. (@Phucking_Funny) January 26, 2016
The morning constitutional
The annual parade down Delhi's Rajpath is a grand spectacle of India's military prowess and cultural diversity. it includes floats with tableaux prepared by various Indian states and ministries that highlight their heritage, culture, art, crafts and technological feats.
This feature prompts many to get out of their beds early in the morning on a holiday. However, the people chosen to represent Chandigarh on the territory's float seemed like they had not woken up early enough: they were still trying to kickstart their morning with the front page news and yoga as they rolled down Rajpath. The float was meant to represent Chandigarh as the "smart, green and dream city" but was dubbed the "laziest float".
#Chandigarh culture - Reading paper in the park and exercise! Whr r the Jatts, sec17 and Geri route? #RepublicDay pic.twitter.com/Z21tChCkgu
— Sumit Kumar (@SumitDrew) January 26, 2016
The Chandigarh float consists of people getting read to go for a morning walk, literally the only thing to do in Chandigarh.
— Overrated Outcast (@over_rated) January 26, 2016
One uncle is reading newspaper on Chandigarh tableau. Most realistic award.
— dorku (@Dorkstar) January 26, 2016
Chandigarh tableau would have been more apt if they showed ppl eating chole bhature at Sindhi sweets #RepublicDay
— Vibhor (@OyeVibhor) January 26, 2016
During the three-hour long broadcast of the celebration at Rajpath, #RepublicDay trended as Twitter buzzed with comments and witticisms about the parade. Twitter even introduced a special Republic Day emoji in the colours of the Indian national flag to commemorate the day.
Motorcycle Jaanbaaz tableau must be renamed to Dhoom tableau. #RepublicDayParade
— Pseudo-Bajirao (@bizzarebhide) January 26, 2016
I love that the 'Election Commission' tableau features a couple of people mid-argument in the polling station queue. #RepublicDay
— Shrey Goyal (@ShreyGoyal) January 26, 2016
OMG! After hoisting the national flag 15 mins ago, the building next to mine is blasting out Chitiyan Kalaiyan! WTF! #RepublicDay
— Mihir M. (@dSarcasticMouth) January 26, 2016
Delhi's revenge for a month of traffic woes is making the rest of the country sit through dance items from our schools' annual day functions
— Overrated Outcast (@over_rated) January 26, 2016
The stars
Tripura and Sikkim quickly emerged as the best in the show with some spectacular designs and ideas. Tripura's tableau was an assemblage of Unakoti sculptures, while and the latter depicted celebration of Buddha Jayanti in the state.
The other themes that caught people's fancy were tableaux designed around Modi's Swachh Bharat campaign and B.R. Ambedkar, the chairman of the committee that drafted the constitution, by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, respectively.
#RepublicDay Tableaux from Tripura during #RepublicDayParade. Live updates here: https://t.co/MggCxIpvsc pic.twitter.com/YxSFpp6fwn
— NDTV (@ndtv) January 26, 2016
#RepublicDay:Sikkim's tableau depicts celebration of #Buddha Jayanti in Sikkim, which is popularly called Saga Dawa pic.twitter.com/Q7YHFuMKsO
— PIB India (@PIB_India) January 26, 2016
#RepublicDay: The tableau of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation is based on the theme of ‘Swachchh Bharat’ pic.twitter.com/XHtsKoCHlt
— PIB India (@PIB_India) January 26, 2016
#RepublicDay: Tableau of Ministry of Social Justice depicts the 125th Anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ramji #Ambedkar pic.twitter.com/2EtdT9D9Rd
— PIB India (@PIB_India) January 26, 2016