The only thing that’s flourishing in India during the pandemic is PM Modi’s beard. It’s growing at the same pace as the number of Covid cases and petrol prices, and there’s no stopping. There have been numerous speculations regarding the purpose behind his reluctance to shave. 

© Instagram/Narendra Modi

These fan theories (yes, I said it) include it’s an attempt to establish a political identity, send across a masculine message, his oath (sankalp) to get the Ram Mandir ready, preparation for the audition for Dumbledore and many more. Okay, the last one might be from the memers and may not be true. The reason is still unknown.

© Instagram/Narendra Modi

While the world discusses the reason behind his growing beard, Shashi Tharoor has a new word for it. Or should I say, he has an exotic word that he learned and used PM Modi’s beard to teach us because it fits his current grooming situation perfectly. 

© Instagram/Shashi Tharoor

The word is pogonotrophy, which means ‘the act of cultivating, or growing and grooming, a mustache, beard, sideburns or other facial hair’. He edified us with the new word upon a Twitter user’s request. She wrote, “Sir, apart from your articulate speeches I'm waiting for some new word to learn. It's always great to tickle your mind with an out of the box word!”

Sir,apart from your articulate speeches I'm waiting for some new word to learn. It's always great to tickle your mind with an out of the box word!

He replied, “My friend Rathin Roy, the economist, taught me a new word today: pogonotrophy.” Before we could flip the pages of the dictionary to find the meaning, he explained it himself, taking a dig at PM Modi’s full beard. “Which means "the cultivation of a beard". As in, the PM's pogonotrophy has been a pandemic preoccupation…” he continued in the tweet. 

My friend Rathin Roy, the economist, taught me a new word today: pogonotrophy, which means "the cultivation of a beard". As in, the PM's pogonotrophy has been a pandemic preoccupation... https://t.co/oytIvCKRJR

Tharoor should have his own dictionary filled with exotic words that only he can pronounce. He has taught us dozens of words in the past that we don’t think anyone even uses in their everyday life, like floccinaucinihilipilification or lalochezia (look them up on google to enhance your vocabulary). 

© Instagram/Shashi Tharoor

We might not use these ‘convoluted’ words (also from Tharoor’s vocab), but we think we can use this new ‘word of the day’, pogonotrophy, to describe PM Modi’s Pandemic look, at least until he trims his beard off. 

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