From 'Mitron' to 'Saathiyon': Twitter wonders why Modi changed his salutation

New Delhi: In a speech awaited by the entire nation with bated breath on New Year's eve, Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced a slew of new incentives. He also spoke about how ordinary citizens took one for the team, as they coped with demonetisation with resilience.

However, what he didn’t say was ‘Mitron’, his now trademark style of addressing his fellow citizens. The prime minister’s speeches have been sufficiently peppered with the term frequently in the past; and the absence of it set the Twitter mills running on Saturday.

Instead of ‘mitron’, Modi had used sathiyon, dosto (friends), and deshvashiyon and trust the Twitterati to bring out the party hats.

In fact, the word had garnered a lot of buzz right from the announcement of the speech with many trying to cash in. Pubs in cities had offered discounted alcohol whenever Modi said ‘Mitron’. Recharges were offered by a mobile payment company on similar grounds.

While people who were looking to exploit these offers were disappointed, Twitter sure managed to have a hearty laugh.