In today’s episode of Internet’s new obsession, we have found out that “Melodi” is social media’s favourite ‘ship.’ The Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni posted a selfie with India’s PM Narendra Modi on her socials yesterday at the sidelines of the COP28 Climate Action Summit in Dubai. The notable thing about this post was Giorgia’s caption which read, “Good friends at COP28. #Melodi” That hashtag sent the Internet into a frenzy with people creating memes and cute shipping videos of the two world leaders.
While re-sharing the photograph on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Modi wrote: “Meeting friends is always a delight.” Modi + Meloni = Melodi is the Internet math that everyone is currently loving and obsessing over. This selfie has broken the internet with the hashtag ‘Melodi’ trending on X (formerly Twitter). The post has received over 25M views and 300K+ likes by Saturday morning.
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How It Began
‘Good friends’, Narendra Modi and Giorgia Meloni, were first noticed by the internet during G20 summit in India In September this year. The Italian PM met Modi along the sidelines of the G20 summit. “I had an excellent meeting with Giorgia Meloni. Our talks covered sectors such as trade, commerce, defence, emerging technologies and more. India and Italy will keep working together for global prosperity,” PM Modi posted at the time.
Before G20, Meloni came to India in March on a two-day visit to participate as the chief guest at the 8th Raisina Dialogue 2023. She held bilateral talks with PM Modi at the Hyderabad House in the capital. The Italian PM called Modi the “most loved leader around the world” during her address at the event. She also wished him on his birthday. Netizens have thus been pairing up the two world leaders after observing their camaraderie.
Modi ji & Meloni ji look so happy 😊#melody pic.twitter.com/YtksPkOmHT
— ruchi kokcha (@ruchikokcha) December 1, 2023
Now, a video of the two leaders chatting at the United Nations ‘Conference of the Parties’ on climate, known as COP28, has also gone viral. The two stood for a photograph with all the leaders when they were seen laughing and talking. The Internet started shipping the two PMs even more now using the #Melodi that is derived by merging both their names. The 46-year-old Italian leader seems to be well-versed with the social media trends as she clicked this selfie and posted it with the iconic hashtag.
The Internet Reacts
When Giorgia posted the selfie, everyone was surprised yet elated to see the hashtag, realising that she is aware about it and is cool enough to actually use it herself. While social media users predicted the post to ‘break all viral records,’ the mood of the comment section seemed fun-filled as people appreciated the friendship between the two world leaders.
One user commented, “Sab ne bana di Jodi.” Another said, “Looks like she has seen all the memes, I’m pretty sure they’re trolling us😂” A rather hopeful or delusional user wrote, “confirmed???😭😭😭😭 she even used hashtag 🌝 <333“
As soon as they saw the picture, the netizens couldn’t keep calm, flooding social media with memes where people appreciated the two PMs’ chemistry. Some used the viral trending song ‘Just Looking Like a WOW‘ by Yashraj Mukhate and mashed it up with different pictures of ‘Melodi,’ others used popular dialogues from Bollywood movies to describe the selfie. Let’s take you through some of them:
So Beautiful, So elegant, Just looking like a Waow (Wow) !!!#Melodi 😍 pic.twitter.com/hz35w90C8l
— Akanksha 🇮🇳 (@Anku0307) December 2, 2023
The Internet is overflowing with montages of Modi and Meloni with either a cheesy Bollywood song or one dubbed in the Indian PM’s voice. This reel made us go “aww” and “lol” at the same time. Don’t miss the caption. Indians have unanimously started referring to Giorgia as “bhabhi!”
Here’s another one with Ed Sheeran’s Perfect playing in the background.
We see it, yes.
Same energy 😭❤️ pic.twitter.com/jlpfSyTmP5
— Shubh (@kadaipaneeeer) December 1, 2023
This hilarious reel references a scene from the Bollywood movie ‘Welcome‘ where Don Uday Shetty’s man is teasing him about the fact that actress Isha has fallen in love with him. The Instagram user draws a parallel between this scene and the ‘Melodi’ phenomenon by referring to PM Modi as Uday Shetty and his man as Amit Shah.
A section of internet users even pointed out that the two prime ministers were twinning in white, and called it “selfie of the year.”
A user posted about Giorgia’s announcement of separating from her partner of 10 years. This news further amplified the social media craze over “Melodi.”
Oya mzaeeee 🤣
— Kishan Bhatt™ 🇰🇪 (@bhattkishan9) December 1, 2023
I heard she's single again 🫶… pic.twitter.com/WdNWEfAfUI
This video on X shows an Italian husband talking about “Melodi” and the knowledge he has on this trending topic thanks to memes.
He's very upto date 😁#Melodi pic.twitter.com/yKenxrll4D
— Prince Anand (@PrinceAnand007) December 1, 2023
The Italian Connection
Taking a swipe at the Italian connection of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, some even suggested that PM Modi should invite Meloni to India for his 2024 Lok Sabha campaign to give a befitting reply to “an Italian by an Italian.” For the ones unaware, Rahul Gandhi’s mother, Sonia Gandhi, was reportedly born in a small village near Italy’s Vicenza. After completing her primary education there, she moved to England, where she met Rajiv Gandhi and married him in 1968. One user commented, “Indian PMs and Italians : A never ending love story!”
This post by Giorgia Meloni is well on its way to becoming one of the most liked Instagram posts ever. Meanwhile, we enjoy all the laughs and speculate whether “Melodi” knows what the entire Internet is up to.