It is the habit of English media in India to dig out queer words from the dictionary and keep on harping on them whenever any news event of rareness unfolds. For a language lover, such occasions are certainly exciting times as he/she will get a great opportunity to add to his/her vocabulary some beautiful words. American President Barack Obama’s visit to India has certainly been the most newsworthy event of the new year and the media hasn’t disappointed us even this time. The bonhomie between the American President and the Indian Prime Minister as well as the controversy that was kicked up after Modi’s extravagant suit with his own name etched on it came up have resulted in the arrival to the scene of two incredible words – ‘bromance’ and ‘megalomania’. Let us look into these words one by one, taking the positive word first.
Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘bromance’ as “intimate and affectionate friendship between men.” The Indian media was quite gung ho about this bromance which was on display between Barack Obama and Narendra Modi. Obama is the first American President who is the Chief Guest of India’s Republic Day celebrations.
If there was one casualty of this tremendous bromance, then it was protocol. Many a time protocol was broken to make way for this magnificent expression of bromance between the two leaders. In the beginning of the visit, Modi broke protocol and drove in to receive the American President immediately after Air Force One landed on the runway (during 2010 Dr. Manmohan Singh also broke protocol and went in to receive Obama). The bromance was again palpable when the two leaders greeted each other with a spontaneous hug. Observers were quick to point out the growing personal relationship between Obama and Modi when the two went for a brief walk on the lawns of Hyderabad House. They also observed that the bromance between the two became all the more evident when Modi addressed Obama by his first name ‘Barack’, whereas Obama addressed the Indian PM as ‘Modi’. Protocol once again bit the dust when Modi chose to sit to the right of Obama during the Republic Day parade, when protocol would have wanted the chief guest (in this case Obama) to sit between the President of India and the Vice President. Modi appeared so much immersed in his bromance with Obama that he even shoved away the Vice President to gain a seat near Obama. During the parade, Obama and Modi were seen chatting together, smiling away and applauding jointly like two men joined together after many years of painful estrangement. The bromance between the two men was so deep that even Jai and Viru would be jealous of them.
The word ‘megalomania’ has been in vogue in Indian media since Narendra Modi’s expensive suit, with his name etched on it, became the talk of the town (and the international media). Oxford English Dictionary will come to our aid once again to explain to us that the word ‘megalomania’ means “delusions of power or self importance.”
If someone who wears a suit with his own name embroidered on it is not someone who excessively believes in his self importance, then who is? Designers say that even by conservative estimates the suit would have cost around 5-8 lakhs and when a man who roamed around India on a stupefying election campaign claiming to be a man of frugal lifestyle wears such a costly suit, questions are bound to arise. Washington Post reported that “Prime Minister Modi wore a suit that takes personalization to a ridiculous extreme.” Such flagrant show of megalomania must have shocked even his most ardent fans. It must be seen if Narendra Modi would ever don the suit again and if he is not going to wear that ever again, spending so much money on such a cheap show of flamboyance should be questioned. Another pertinent question is who sponsored this suit for Modi and if it has been brought using the tax payers money, then Modi should come under serious scrutiny for such a shockingly narcissistic display with the use of public money. With the kind of self endorsement and self promotion that our PM Modi has made a habit of, we can rest assured that the media will not allow us to forget the word megalomania anytime soon.
As a common citizen of India, this author would hope that the bromance between President Obama and Prime Minister Modi would flourish profusely, if that could provide some gain to the country. He would also wish whole-heartedly that PM Modi would take himself a bit lightly, relinquish pomposity and would get on to work for keeping the big promises he had made during the election campaign. However as an English language enthusiast, this writer welcomes the emergence of both ‘bromance’ and ‘megalomania’ with equal relish. Let us prosper; let the language prosper.
