At 11.23 am, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he would be addressing the nation between 11.45 am and noon. But by 12.20 pm, he was nowhere to be heard or seen on television, radio or social media. Speculation about the content of his address flew wildly because Modi had earlier in the day sat in a meeting with the Cabinet Committee on Security, which was also attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Finally, around 12.23 pm, Modi appeared on TV screens to announce that an Indian-made anti-satellite weapon called A-SAT had successfully targeted a live satellite on a Low Earth Orbit as part of an operation called Mission Shakti.

“In the journey of every nation there are moments that bring utmost pride and have a historic impact on generations to come. One such moment is today,” Modi said in a tweet. “It shows the remarkable dexterity of India’s outstanding scientists and the success of our space programme.”

Before that, though, as India sat down anxiously to wait for his announcement, many filled the time with time by making jokes on social media. Many were reminded of their days crowding outside ATMs back on December 8 three years ago, when Modi demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

मेरे प्यारे देशवासियों,



आज सवेरे लगभग 11.45 - 12.00 बजे मैं एक महत्वपूर्ण संदेश लेकर आप के बीच आऊँगा।



I would be addressing the nation at around 11:45 AM - 12.00 noon with an important message.



Do watch the address on television, radio or social media. — Chowkidar Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 27, 2019

Modi ji: "I will be addressing the nation with an important message."



You (dumbass): *waiting for the announcement*



Me (1000 times smarter): *already walking towards the nearest ATM* — Akshar (@AksharPathak) March 27, 2019

Jesus. Going to ATM. — Ashish K. Mishra (@akm1410) March 27, 2019

Making us wait for a speech that should have started 9 mins ago and putting a whole country in anxiety mode is very telling of the last 5 years tbh — Sonia Mariam Thomas (@SoKneeOh) March 27, 2019

Keep the nation waiting. What a power trip. — Priya Ramani (@priyaramani) March 27, 2019

As anticipation grew, Twitter kept busy.

Punctuality is really not a strong suit of Indians, not even the PM. — Kabir Taneja (@KabirTaneja) March 27, 2019

Someone was armed with a chowkidar joke.

Generally chowkidars are treated terribly even if they’re a few minutes late. — Mahesh Rao (@mraozing) March 27, 2019

Some speculated about what Modi would announce.

My bet is on a new design in the T-shirts! https://t.co/TxxMKV3C4a — Dr. Kailashnath Koppikar (@koppik) March 27, 2019

There was speculation from many quarters that Modi’s announcement would violate the Election Commission of India’s Model Code of Conduct.

I am hoping EC has found their missing spine and stopped PM from making this important address. — sanjay kapoor (@sanjaykpr) March 27, 2019

The account IndianHistoryPics, always ready with a timely image, had a rather dark observation to make.

1975 :: PM Indira Gandhi Addresses The Nation During Emergency



( Photo - @IndianExpress ) pic.twitter.com/Z9oKKbe0Ug — indianhistorypics (@IndiaHistorypic) March 27, 2019

Twitter finally breathed a sigh of relief after Modi’s announcement was done, and the demonetisation references were nicely rounded up.

Others made a reference to the cricket controversy earlier this week involving Kings XI Punjab skipper R Ashwin of the “Mankadding” Rajasthan Royals batsman Jos Buttler during an Indian Premier League encounter on Monday night.

This meeting could have been an email. — Sonia Shenoy (@_soniashenoy) March 27, 2019

Akshay Kumar is already in the studio, shooting Mission Shakti movie with Rakesh Roshan's Koi Mil Gaya computer. — Ivan Mehta (@IndianIdle) March 27, 2019

He must have misunderstood millions saying- just give us some space boss. — Dushyant (@atti_cus) March 27, 2019

By end of day India will have more space experts than NASA. — Anupam Gupta (@b50) March 27, 2019