That Prime Minister Narendra Modi has an impressive ability to turn on the rhetoric in his speeches is something that even his political opponents readily concede. Modi's seamlessly switching over to immaculate sentences in English while delivering a speech in Hindi has also received favourable notice in recent times, as did his address at the recently concluded Vibrant Gujarat summit.
That Modi, like other world leaders and politicians, often uses a teleprompter to read his speeches while appearing to be speaking extempore is also not a state-secret.
On Monday, all was going well during the visit of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena's visit to India until Modi took the stage. After thanking the Sri Lankan president, he proceeded to thank not Mrs Sirisena, who was present there, but "M.R.S. Sirisena", presumably as a result of a misreading the text on the teleprompter, in a gaffe that was reminiscent of a Doordarshan anchor who lost her job for a similar misreading, as she had referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as 'Eleven' Jinping during his visit to India.
Here's the Vine video has been doing the rounds since then:
It wasn't just Modi bashing, though. Following the usual rules of engagement on Twitter, the Congress too got some gentle reminders from the bhaktas:
This is not the first time that Twitter has had some fun with Modi's bloopers. In September, the PM referred to Mahatma Gandhi as "Mohanlal" instead of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The prime minister is in good company, though. None other than his 'friend Barack', also known for his oratory, has also had teleprompter blues, albeit of a different kind:
That Modi, like other world leaders and politicians, often uses a teleprompter to read his speeches while appearing to be speaking extempore is also not a state-secret.
On Monday, all was going well during the visit of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena's visit to India until Modi took the stage. After thanking the Sri Lankan president, he proceeded to thank not Mrs Sirisena, who was present there, but "M.R.S. Sirisena", presumably as a result of a misreading the text on the teleprompter, in a gaffe that was reminiscent of a Doordarshan anchor who lost her job for a similar misreading, as she had referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as 'Eleven' Jinping during his visit to India.
Here's the Vine video has been doing the rounds since then:
Look to the left and then right. Lift hand up and down. Read from teleprompter. That is all Modi does when delivering non-election speeches. — Srivatsa (@srivatsayb) February 17, 2015
Maybe PM's internal autocorrect has trouble recognising "Mrs". #MRSSirisena — कनिका गहलौत (@kanikagahlaut) February 18, 2015
Mrs. Becomes M.R.S.. Hilarious. Do watch....why do we laugh at DD achors when the boss is same too... http://t.co/rZpm4VxExC — Saurav Choudhury (@sauravchoudhury) February 17, 2015
Don't blame me.It's not me,it is teleprompter.criticise Teleprompter!
— Rahul Gunupati (@rahulgunupati) February 18, 2015
Teleprompter transferred to Andaman “@ikaveri: The more you watch it, the funnier it gets. https://t.co/HQDgd8V7cC”
— TheComicProject (@thecomicproject) February 18, 2015
It wasn't just Modi bashing, though. Following the usual rules of engagement on Twitter, the Congress too got some gentle reminders from the bhaktas:
@arunmsk reminds me of how even with help of teleprompter our great pm candidates the fake Gandhis used to goof up — Indian Hindu (@iamindiannn) February 18, 2015
This is not the first time that Twitter has had some fun with Modi's bloopers. In September, the PM referred to Mahatma Gandhi as "Mohanlal" instead of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The prime minister is in good company, though. None other than his 'friend Barack', also known for his oratory, has also had teleprompter blues, albeit of a different kind:
The president's biggest fear is not a terrorist attack here at home; it's a teleprompter malfunction. pic.twitter.com/ikHo79OYo3
— WH PRESS SECRETARY (@weknowwhatsbest) February 14, 2015
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