PM eyes the sky, public eyes his Rs 1.5 L glares

The nation has known since the Balakot air strikes that no cloud cover can dampen Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s enthusiasm for any event, be it terrestrial, aerial or cosmic.

So, it was barely surprised when it found PM Modi staring intently at the sky, trying to pierce the dense cloud cover, hoping to catch a glimpse of the ring of fire.

In a picture that he shared along with a tweet, the PM was his nattily dressed self - in grey trousers, pullover and a red muffler casually slung around his neck, reminiscent of Rajesh Khanna of the 70s. But what caught the imagination were his Maybach glares, which are believed to cost around Rs 1.5 lakh.

Soon, the eclipse was forgotten and the denizens of Twitter could see little else other than his glares. @AmitManjul tweeted: “PM Modi catches glimpse of rare solar eclipse. Nation catches glimpse of even rarer Maybach sunglasses.”

But that was mild. Others were not so charitable towards the ‘Branded Fakeer.’ Sir, humko bhi fakeeri ka anubhav karna hain...Humko bhi 1.5 lakh ka Maybach eyewear pehenne ki ichha hain, was another plaintive cry. Please start a Pradhan Mantri Maybach Eyewear Peheno Yojana, the user advised. Aapko dua milegi garib logo ki, he said by way of blessings. One user quipped that PM was scouring for his long-lost friend Vikas, who was lost in the cloud cover.

For once, PM Modi decided to play along. So, when a Twitter user posted the picture of Modi looking up at the sun and said it was becoming a meme, the prime minister indulgently responded with, “Most welcome .... enjoy :)”. In less than half an hour, the PM’s tweet garnered over 17,000 likes and more than 4,000 RTs.

His horde of supporters and detractors chipped in: @haripriyav2 retorted: “The salary of an Indian prime minister is 1.6lac per month...he can buy 10 more glasses like this.”

The Congress, upset at BJP’s ‘Jhooton ka sardar’ diatribe against Rahul Gandhi, could not resist commenting on PM Modi in a brown jacket with a red scarf wrapped around his neck. "Modi is so cool, while the country burns, he chills," said the statement.

The jury was still out on the eclipse, nay, the glares, when reports last trickled in.