For Modi’s 75th, Times of India becomes a greeting card

“This is an opportunity to celebrate India’s visionary leader on an important milestone of his life. Send your wishes to the prime minister through The Times of India publications,” declared print and digital ads by the Times of India.

Yes, you read that right. For Narendra Modi’s 75th birthday, TOI is offering itself up as the nation’s birthday card. 

And those who want to wish can either do so through the outlet’s website or by calling any of the two Times Response associates – whose numbers have been mentioned in its print ad.  

“Where are we @timesofindia – North Korea? Do your knees not hurt scraping the floor for so long?” shot back Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra on X. Others suggested TOI channel the birthday energy into, say, clothes or meals for the poor. But why uplift the needy when you can uplift the PM’s mood?

The nostalgia brigade also chimed in: X account Indian History Pics dug up a 1964 TOI front page where the paper pledged Rs 1 lakh to the Nehru Memorial Fund. 

A user appealed the paper to “start an operation where public are invited to gift clothes, toys & packed meals to millions in need. They're almost everywhere. All government hospitals are overcrowded, initiate a helping hand to them too. Only such acts will be counted as blessings.”

Meanwhile, NDTV joined the birthday playlist too – with features on Modi’s Gen Z popularity and yoga diplomacy. Because what’s a 75th without a little wellness content?

This year’s festivities are sprawling: a “Seva Pakhwada,” welfare drives, and infrastructure inaugurations by the government. There’s even a Modi Mahotsav being organised by the thinktank Centre for Narendra Modi Studies. 

Not that this is new.

In 2021, CNN-News18 gifted viewers Modi: The Untold Story, a 20-minute primetime ode to the boss of bosses. Corporate India, too, reliably rolls out birthday ads dripping with dhanyavaads. On the PM’s 69th Birthday, we had India Today offering us this hard-to-guess puzzle.

So here we are again, in 2025, in a giant chorus of “thank you Modiji”.