Indian Gets Trolled For Wishing Mahela Jayawardena On Women’s Day

Find out why this Indian wished Mahela Jayawardene on International Women’s Day.

On March 8, amid all the buzz about International Women’s Day on Twitter, former Sri Lankan cricketer Mahela Jayawardena received a rather unusual message.

Happy women's day to the best srilankan cricketer 😇 #womensday pic.twitter.com/6Hli6YdFte

— Manish B (@ManishUnknown) March 8, 2017

Hindi speakers can see why wishing Jayawardena on Women’s Day can oddly, but hilariously, make sense. After all, ‘Mahela’ can be read as ‘mahila’, which is the Hindi word for a ‘woman.’

‘Mahela’,‘Mahila’: There’s A Difference

Jayawardena, although a tad confused, went with the flow and responded back with this.

You should know the difference of Mahela and Mahila? 😳 https://t.co/bw6SFCK3ih

— Mahela Jayawardena (@MahelaJay) March 8, 2017

And followed it up with a rather magnanimous message.

You should celebrate #womensday everyday. Not just today😉 I take everything in the correct spirit 👍 https://t.co/lLMlBlLbDt

— Mahela Jayawardena (@MahelaJay) March 8, 2017

But the Twitterverse couldn’t help but have a good laugh at the mix-up.

@ManishUnknown @MahelaJay lol just because you or your commentators can't pronounce a name right... that doesn't change the gender bruv 😜

— Amira (@withloveami) March 9, 2017

@ManishUnknown Give my regards to your daddy..Happy womens day..!! 😉😉

— Nipun Nilakshana (@nipuw96) March 8, 2017

@ManishUnknown @MahelaJay Haha we Indians do this Mahela/Mahila joke every year, you noticed it this time.

— Elvis priceless (@Nsihnat) March 8, 2017

@ManishUnknown @MahelaJay pic.twitter.com/xGlZvC6fGl

— #Kahnster (@im_afsi) March 8, 2017

@ManishUnknown @MahelaJay On behalf of #India we all are sry 4 dis tweet. But plz tell me how do u know the meaning of MAHILA (Hindi Word)

— Akhilesh Pandey (@iamakki007) March 8, 2017

@MahelaJay take it in a good spirit boss.u r 1 of the greatest player in history of cricket.After all we are celebrating today #womensday https://t.co/rlD3GjOO5B

— Gaurav Agarwalla (@agarwallagaurav) March 8, 2017

Indians Apologise to the Legend

Others, mostly Indian fans of Jayawardena, were for some reason apologetic on behalf of user. Is it really so insulting to be wished a happy Women’s Day with a play on words? You tell us.

@MahelaJay sorry for the bad representation of being an Indian! Ignore him pls legend! @ManishUnknown

— Rohan Mitraa (@rohanmitraa) March 8, 2017

@ManishUnknown plz delete this tweet don't disrespect a legend and bring down the image of Indian fans

— Ajju (@Huss_Master) March 8, 2017

@ManishUnknown @MahelaJay plzz delete this tweet this is nt our culture dude

— Sanjaybjp (@Pune16Sanjay) March 8, 2017

@ManishUnknown Manish.. There is a difference between Mahela and Mahila.. @MahelaJay sir, just ignore such useless tweets.

— Shridhar Puranik (@shri0075) March 8, 2017