Nagpur cops' Valentine's meme fails to win Marathi hearts

Taking heart from Mumbai Police's successful use of their Twitter handle with appealing and timely tweets, Nagpur Police decided to follow suit but not exactly with pleasing results.

With Valentine's Day approaching, various messages, blogs and memes are doing the rounds and the police were the first to catch on. Mumbai Police put out a 'Gully Boy' meme on road safety, using Alia Bhatt's 'Mar jayega tu (you'll die)' dialogue from the film's trailer -- said in response to someone when they want to ride a motorcycle without wearing a helmet.

Likewise, Nagpur Police tweeted: "We are binge-watching our territory 24x7, letting everyone know once and for all that the police too is just as 'omnipresent' as Radhika Apte.’’ The tweet was mimicking the Netflix response to those who think the actor is everywhere on the streaming service.

On February 3, at 9.18 am, the Nagpur Police Twitter handle became a little more adventurous and put out a Valentine's Day meme; and in true Vidarbha style, they used Hindi at the end, which did not sit well with Twitterati from the rest of Maharashtra, which seems to know little about Vidarbha.

Given their proximity to Hindi-speaking states, people from Vidarbha do not speak pure Marathi. Their speech is interspersed with Hindi.This was the tweet put out by Nagpur Police:

Nothing could have prepared them for the online onslaught that ensued.

A person asked them to use the state official language. "Krupya Marathichach vaapar karaava. Maharashtra rajyabhasha adhiniyamache hey ullanghan aahe," said Hemand Athalye. (Please use only Marathi. This is a breach of the rule to use the state language).

Another questioned why Nagpur Police had tweeted in Hindi and not Marathi? "Maharashtra rajyaat Hindi sandesh kaa ani konasathi? Marathi rajbhashecha tumhi apmaan karit ahaat. Kontyahi prakaracha sandesh fakta Marathi bhashetach dene hey tumhala bandhankarak ahe! #Maharashtraat_Marathich #Hindimukta_Maharashtra. (Why is a message in Maharashtra state written in Hindi and for whom? You are insulting the state language. You are bound to put out messages in Marathi only. #Marathiinmaharashtra #Hindimuktamaharashtra," said another Marathi lover. Another went on a laughing spree. "Lmaoooo maoooo aoooo oooo ooo oo oh man this account is lit," said anonymous 'Aditya. ' However, an undeterred Nagpur Police put out another tweet, this time in English, cautioning people from falling prey to online romance.

"Don't let your heart get robbed by Valentine Hoaxes, lest you fall into Online Romance Scams!" they warned.