'Chidi Udd' to Johnny Lever's 'Abhi Theek Kar Deta Hoon': IndiGo memes soared when flights didn't

New Delhi: IndiGo's chaotic cancellations left people missing appointments, exams -- even weddings -- but not their humour, as memes and jokes on the airline took off and landed right on time, unlike its flights.

Whether on Instagram, Facebook or X, the humour was in the air.

For many, it was a cheeky release of collective frustration at an airline that quickly became the butt of countless jokes, giving weary travellers a much-needed moment of comic relief amid the chaos.

One clip making the rounds on the internet shows passengers playing 'Chidi Udd' at the airport, and, no price for guessing, the unlucky loser was the one who lifted his finger for 'IndiGo'.

Then there’s another from yuvraj.dua, showing a man frantically packing everything for his flight -- a mattress, blanket, three tiffins, a bat for a potential Terminal 1 cricket match, and even a guitar that he can't play (but can always learn via YouTube at the airport).

When his wife asks why, he simply shrugs: "Arrey, IndiGo hai na." Even at the risk of sounding a little dark, thousands of stranded passengers couldn't help but chuckle -- even if the jokes were squarely on them and their plight.

The funny people on internet were in full swing, churning out jokes by the dozen.

Sample the several funny takes on the airline's name that quickly caught on, starting with a tongue-in-cheek post by businessman Harsh Goenka, who spoofed the logo as 'ItDidn'tGo', playfully mocking the ongoing cancellations and delays by the country's largest private carrier.

The post went viral, with many travellers saying it summed up their frustration perfectly, while others took the funny takes a notch higher.

"Fear of height is vertigo. Fear of flight is Indigo," said a post by the page 'Laughing Colours' on Facebook, doing its bit to take humour to new heights.

"The last time so many people were pissed off by Indigo was during the Chamaparan Satyagraha," posted Shivam Bahuguna, drawing a tongue-in-cheek parallel between the airline’s chaos and the historic revolt led by Mahatma Gandhi against forced indigo cultivation in 1917.

Another joke came from Gautam Bhasnali, who shared an image of IndiGo’s on board advertising -- “Come for the flights, stay for the hotels. Get the best hotel deals on www.goindigo.in” -- a pointed nod to how passengers were forced to book rooms after the marathon delays and cancellations.

"Had seen it last month. Was not able to understand. Now, I understood,” he wrote on X, leaving no doubt about the shared frustration.

Even movie and TV serial clips proved handy, as busy memesters curated the choicest of videos to drive their point home.

For instance, Aadarsh Vajpai on Instagram posted a hilarious Johnny Lever scene from the 2010 movie 'Khatta Meetha', where the actor, playing a mechanic, says, "Abhi Theek Kar Deta Hoon", and tries to fix a broken road roller only to dismantle it piece by piece -- a clear dig at IndiGo management's repeated assurances that passenger issues would be resolved soon, but to no avail.

Another hit meme was a scene from the 2016 film 'Raman Raghav 2.0', shared by Gulshan Sabharwal, showing a visibly frustrated Nawazuddin Siddiqui screaming, "Nikalo Mujhe Yahan Se", with the caption: "IndiGo passengers at the airport." Fans of TV serials joined in too, with a clip of Popatlal from 'Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah' repeating his popular dialogue, "Cancel, Cancel, Cancel".

The post was captioned: "IndiGo's new brand ambassador," poking fun at the airline’s endless flight cancellations and delays.

The internet’s favourite was a clip from the 1999 Aamir Khan-starrer 'Sarfarosh', showing the actor’s parents performing 'aarti' and putting a 'tilak' on his forehead, with the caption: “Parents of people travelling by IndiGo." IndiGO, which commands over 65 per cent of India's total domestic air traffic, cancelled around 180 flights from Bengaluru and Hyderabad on Tuesday, as the disruptions in the crisis-hit airline prolonged for the eighth consecutive day.

The Gurugram-based carrier cancelled more than 560 flights from six Metro airports on Monday.