As Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, September 5, evening sought to connect with the country’s restive and ambitious Gen-Z population by addressing students at a top college in New Delhi, he ended up coining a number of new words and phrases that will go down well into his already sizeable and colourful political vocabulary.
‘OG’ (Original Gangster), ‘Dhurandhar’ and ‘Naraz Foofa’ were among the new words Modi uttered emphatically in his address at Delhi University’s Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), where he was speaking 13 years after his last speech. He had coined the phrase “Dimagi Naxal” (intellectual extremists) in his address to the nation on the Independence Day on August 15.
While the occasion this time was the SRCC’s centenary celebrations, the PM’s presence there was widely viewed as his effort to connect with the younger generation, especially after the youth protests spearheaded by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in July, which led to the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, a humiliation for Modi’s government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Modi’s speech, delivered in Hindi, was received very well by the students of the college as they applauded him on several occasions. The speech was also telecast live by most television news channels in the country.
“SRCC’s alumni have been very special… they took the glory of the college to international level. If I put it in your language, the alumni here are the OGs,” Modi said, praising the alumni. “Dhurandhar na ho lekin dhoom machai hai (They may not be the stalwarts, but they have made a splash),” he added.
“OG” is believed to be short for “original gangster”, which is slang for someone who has experience, and credibility in something; also someone who is exceptional, authentic or old-school. The term started in Los Angeles, USA, during the early 1970s within street gang culture, specifically used by the Crips to mean someone who was an original member or founder. Over time, it grew to describe an older, highly respected veteran. “Dhurandhar”, which is the name of a popular Hindi film, means a stalwart.
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‘Naraz Foofa’ is the phrase Modi used in his address to broadly describe his political opponents, but particularly those in Congress, the main Opposition party. Modi made fun of his critics and opposition figures because of their constant objections to national projects or developments just, according to the PM, for the sake of complaining. His use of this phrase, which evoked images of a perpetually grumpy relative at a wedding, was applauded by the students of SRCC listening to the PM.
Modi, who had visited SRCC and addressed students last in 2013 when he was the chief minister of Gujarat, drew parallels between India at that time, ruled by a Congress-led alliance, and the present time, when BJP under him has been in power since the next year—since 2014. The PM said his 2013 speech at the college had “become a wave”, and that its impact remains the same even today.
“India in 2013 was dealing with a series of challenges, including terror attacks, inflation and corruption. Growth was at its lowest and inflation was at the peak,” he said in a clear attack of the governance by Congress before 2014, adding that Congress rule was full of scams and corruption cases.
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Modi also defended his coinage of the term ‘Dimagi Naxal’, saying it was a “homeopathic pill” to anti-national elements. “You may have heard my speech from the Red Fort. I gave a homeopathic pill from the Red Fort, ‘Dimagi Naxal’,” he said. “Similarly, as soon as I gave the ‘Dimagi Naxal’ homeopathic pill, all the ‘Dimagi Naxals’ started coming out one after another,” he added, in a rebuff to the controversy the term ‘Dimagi Naxal’ keeps creating across India.
