Humour in Narendra Modi memes on new media

ABSTRACT New Media has given an opportunity to the users to engage in networking and creation of media contents. The internet memes are a way to create, modify and add to the images online in order to provoke laughter and humour. The article has analyzed memes of Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi based on the themes selected for this paper. The themes selected for discussing humour in memes are Modi’s foreign trips for official purposes, his yoga postures, his meeting with foreign delegates and demonetisation that took place during his tenure. Humour in the memes is expressed by the combination of the pop and politics where still images and lines from movies and cricket are often placed with the images of Narendra Modi and his daily activities. Humour in some ways is a way to criticise the Prime Minister on his decisions and policies and therefore act as a safety valve while other memes are a way to provide laughter and engage in the shared culture of meme-making.