1. All The Boys Who Cry Passionately On TikTok India
Whatever you think of TikTok, it's undeniable that millions of Indians consider it their favourite app. And while its users move on to new trends every other week, the one consistent thread seems to involve guys crying with scary passion over songs like "Agar Tum Saath Ho" and "Tum Dil Ki Dhadkan Ho". So much so that the Facebook page dedicated solely towards celebrating this meme gained over 40,000 followers over the course of this year.
2. That weird-ass "Johnny Johnny/Baby Shark" mashup
3. Priya Prakash Varrier's Wink
4. Wild Wild Country's Maa Anand Sheela
5. Sacred Games
Autowallahs in Mumbai be like...
It's hard to pick just one meme from India's biggest web series, really. From the lovable and tragic Katekar to omnipresent Radhika Apte, every aspect of this show was subject to meme-age this year. Not least of all, its dialogues taken out of context.
6. "Somebody fucking fix this mic" – Arijit Singh (2018)
Quotes by some great musicians.
Early in the year, a clip of Arijit Singh started going viral in which the singer was seen cussing out the organisers of a show in front of a huge crowd, *while* he was on stage. He may or may not have gotten the gig setup he wanted, but he did give the Indian internet a new catchphrase that would stay on for a while.
7. "Ghar Se Nikalte Hi"
Ghar se Kuch Dur nikalte Chalte hi.. hi..
22 years ago, Jugal Hansraj's boyish charm and a soulful melody made "Ghar Se Nikalte Hi" a hit for the ages. This year, it made a triumphant return to pop culture – but not as a song. It was as a hilarious meme that conveyed just how quickly life can go to shit.
8. Rahul Gandhi Hugging Narendra Modi
when you are fighting with your sibling and mom enters the room
In one of the more iconic moments in recent Indian politics, Gandhi went and hugged Modi in the middle of a heated Parliament session. Of course, there were memes. And what glorious memes they were.
9. "Our business is our business, none of your business"
10. "I am not your yaar"
my mother: talk to me im your friend also my mother:
If spiritual guru Devkinandan Thakur wasn't popular before 2018, he certainly is now. After a clip of him admonishing someone went viral – a clip in which he loudly exclaims "Control your language, I am not your yaar!" – countless image macros and hilarious video mashups started flooding the internet. Too good, yaar.
11. Dancing Uncle
Dancing uncle has gone viral. Now people are getting inspired by his style.
All it took was one viral clip for Sanjeev Srivastava to be celebrated as the next dancing superstar of India. His clips were mashed up with other songs... Professional dancers tried to copy him... At one point, he even got to dance with his biggest inspiration, Govinda. A truly viral sensation, if there ever was one.
12. Modiji doing exercise
At some point during this year, our prime minister released a compilation video on all his social media platforms, showing him doing various yoga thingies around a park. While his motive was to inspire Indians to be more healthy, what he actually did end up inspiring was a bunch of hilarious videos and images that we're equally grateful for.
13. "Chaliye Puducherry Ko Vanakkam"
📍 Narendra Modi | | | _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ | 📍 facing a press conference | _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _| | | | 📍 Chaliye puducherry ko vanakkam
After a BJP party worker from Tamil Nadu posed an awkward question about tax policies to the prime minister, Modi's response was to sidestep it with a generic Hindi-Tamil hybrid line. A line that would go on to become everyone's answer to questions they didn't have responses for.
14. "Hello, friends! Chai pi lo!"
