Don't you just hate it when a piece of electronic equipment ruins your day?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a sticky moment on Monday after he followed a teleprompter text faithfully and introduced the wife of visiting Sri Lankan President President Maithripala Sirisena, Jayanthi Pushpa Kumari, by the acronym 'M-R-S' (Mrs) — as it probably would have appeared on the screen.
The gaffe was captured on aVine that has gone viral. Modi, not unlike most state heads has read from a teleprompter before.
A good orator, Modi's speeches come across as extempore, as he switches fluently from Hindi to English.
And of course, Twitter had some fun with it.
The President's wife can never just be a Mrs, she has to be M-R-S. Epic Modi teleprompter fail
— Raghav Chopra (@AarSee) February 18, 2015
When PM Modi saw M-R-S Sirisena on his teleprompter http://t.co/A2K16f65vO#Modi#ROFLpic.twitter.com/bKTXz0nFjt
— PARAS (@IStandWithAAP) February 18, 2015
Speechwriters for Modi's teleprompter please note. Do not use abbreviations and write each word as they are pronounced. Maybe in Gujarati?
— Gunasekar Rajaratnam (@crguna) February 18, 2015
Some people were quite upset.
Modi prefix the name of Sri Lankan first lady with #MRS when reading from teleprompter!!!!! National Shame!!!!
— Moideen A K (@akmoideen) February 18, 2015
@gsgarima6 Speech teleprompter: The secret behind Narendra Modi's fluent English pic.twitter.com/i69aA14geu
— trivedisavan (@savantrivedi007) February 18, 2015