Birthday boy

Rahul Gandhi turned 42, unleashing a torrent of tweets. Comedy Central India kicked things off with this one: ‘On Rahul's birthday, he will have his cake and eat it at some poor guy's house.' Sarabjit Singh added: ‘It's Rahul's birthday. He intends to spend it with Advani to understand how it feels to be a perpetual PM-in-waiting.' Sreenath tweeted: ‘All roadside teashop owners in Kerala are expecting him for his celebrations.' Sangeetha Kodithala had this comment to make: ‘Rahul's birthday and no hoardings? Such austerity!' There was this from Agnivo: ‘Salman Rushdie shares his birthday with the Crown Prince of 10 Janpath. A cursed day, I must say.' Finally, from Doctor At Large: ‘My mind today is as blank as Rahul Gandhi's and has as few thoughts as Poonam Pandey's clothes.'

Being supportive
Giving a major boost to UPA Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee, the Shiv Sena became a trending topic. Ramesh Srivats tweeted: ‘JD(U) is supporting Pranab. Now Shiv Sena is supporting Pranab. What on earth is NDA meeting for? Oh! Samosas? Then, okay.' Priti Gandhi added: ‘I thank Shiv Sena and Nitish Kumar for showing their true colours by holding BJP to ransom. Will help BJP prepare better for 2014!' And from Oldtimer, a question: ‘Has Shiv Sena's support for Pranab made it secular or has it rendered Pranab communal?'

That's rich
India announced a 10 billion USD contribution to the IMF to help the debt-wracked 17-nation Eurozone. Faking News reacted with this comment: We are giving $10 billion to help the Eurozone? Nice. Next IPL opening ceremony should be funded from Prime Minister's Relief Fund.' The UnReal Times added: ‘The money India has pledged will be called the Rajiv Gandhi European Employment Guarantee Scheme.'

The last word
From journalist Barkha Dutt: ‘Puzzling that many of the politicians who wanted Kalam to run for President were sure that he would. Didn't they check with him?'

- Lindsay Pereira is Editor, MiD DAY Online (twitter.com/lindsaypereira)