Welcome to the game of trolls

Amarjot Kaur

With action, drama, sports and entertainment galore, it’s hard not to romanticise all tools that internet makes available to a mind that’s compared to a devil’s workshop. The bee here owes all its sanity to the little joys found on the internet. It has been eagerly looking forward to the upcoming Karnataka elections and its ‘Game of Thrones’ internet connection with BJP; it has also been examining the ‘Ali Zafar and Meesha Shafi’ controversy on the other side of the border and is looking to study Saroj Kahn’s not-so-creative side of the mind. “All this and such less time, but before everything else, let’s watch Obama and Melania share a smile, at the funeral,” the bee hums as if it were an actor in Shakespeare’s play. As it watches the video, there’s more on twitter making waves, including Sachin Tendulkar’s not-so happy birthday (at least for his fans). 

Tweet trail 

Smile while your man’s away!

Donald Trump did not attend Barbara Bush’s funeral on Saturday, but his wife gave social media much to talk about. President’s wife Melania Trump was spotted smiling and sharing a laugh with Barack Obama before the service in Houston. Social media users began to joke about how even though she was at a funeral and that she appeared to be having a good time away from her husband.

Drumroll

Great Scott! @ScottFrazier19

Melania looks happier at a funeral than she has in ages. Wouldn’t you too if you went from being with Donald every day to sitting next to Barack?

 #barbarabushfuneral

Steve Silberman@stevesilberman

This is Melania and Obama sitting together today at former First Lady Barbara Bush’s funeral. Have you ever, ever, EVER seen Melania smile like this, and look this relaxed, beside her own husband? Ever?

Angry birds

Time for an unnecessary philosophical comment: “Kisi ko khush dekh kar koi khush nahi hota beta, yahi duniya hai..” Talking of unhappy people, here’s the anger seething on Twitter. 

The internet has been debating over Saroj Khan’s ‘casting couch’ comment, but the most furious of them all are the cricket fans! 

Jagrati Shukla@JagratiShukla29

#JNU Feminists silent on #SarojKhan. Kyu bhai?Is it because #Bollywood funds the #TukdeTukdeGang or because Bollywood provides you lot with a platform for your Anti-India & Anti-Establishment Propaganda?Is @ReallySwara stopping you from speaking out @Shehla_Rashid?

#castingcouch

Sanju Verma @Sanju_Verma_

#SarojKhan,trying to dignify #CastingCouch,by comparing it to rape;Rape is a violent crime,most often aimed at subjugation&may have little to do with lust;Casting Couch,equally condemnable,but this includes a certain level of consent from victims,aka, #FakeFeminazis of #Bollywood

Hai la, yeh kya?

On his birthday, the country recalled and celebrated their favourite memories of the cricketing legend Sachin, but a video posted by Cricket Australia left several Sachin fans fuming on the microblogging site Twitter. 

The video shows the Aussie pacer Damien Fleming getting Sachin out clean bowled with an inswinger in an ODI in Perth during the 2000 Carlton & United Series.

cricket.com.au@CricketAus

Some @bowlologist gold from the man himself - happy birthday, Damien Fleming!

Time for a scientific philosophical comment: And every action has an equal and opposite reaction!

The game gets bigger

Twitter users trolled BJP over Ned Stark ‘Modi is Coming’ meme. On Sunday BJP Karnataka announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be visiting the Udupi Shri Krishna Mutt and would later address a rally in Udupi. They threw in a Game of Thrones (GoT) reference, along with the hashtag #Modiiscoming — a play on an iconic phrase from the hit TV series, “Winter is coming.” Attached was a picture of Ned Stark in a meme-famous pose, with the words, “Brace yourself Congress.”

The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are both bringing their A game on social media, with the Karnataka Assembly elections fast approaching. Last week, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah threw shade at BJP general secretary P Muralidhar Rao for tweeting to him in Hindi, and said that he should be tweeted to in English or Kannada.

BJP Karnataka@BJP4Karnataka

PM Shri @narendramodi will be visiting Udupi on May 1st, 2018. He will be first visiting Udupi’s Shri Krishna Mutt, and will later address a massive public rally in Udupi.

#ModiIsComing

Ball ball bache!

Mumbai Indians pacer Jasprit Bumrah was criticized and ridiculed on social media after he bowled another critical no-ball in a crunch situation. This time, it was against the Rajasthan Royals. Bumrah conceded 18 runs in the penultimate over which cost Mumbai the game. 

Insta hit

Singer-actor Ali Zafar’s female band members came out in support of the singer against the allegations made by singer Meesha Shafi. On April 19, Meesha accused Zafar, with whom she’s performed in a few concerts, of sexual misconduct in a lengthy Twitter post. Zafar posted his statement few hours later, in which he “categorically denied” all claims of harassment lodged by the 36-year-old singer. Meesha later gave an interview to a Pakistan daily giving detailed account how she was allegedly harassed by Ali Zafar. After Meesha’s interview went viral, Zafar’s band members Aqsa Ali and Kanza Munir shared their version of the same day on their respective Instagram accounts.

Tube tales 

If you think this column’s a bit of a crazy ride, check out a video selfie the Oscar-winning actor, Anthony Hopkins posted to his Twitter account on Sunday of himself dancing wildly while salsa music blares in the background. It has more than 5.3 million views.

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