Three years on, Pakistani Twitter celebrates a happy fantastic tea day

Three years on, Pakistanis are wishing their fellow Indian neighbours a happy fantastic tea day to mark the country's ‘swift retort’ against the Balakot airstrike, conducted by Indian warplanes on February 26, 2019.

For the unversed, Pakistan shot down two Indian aircrafts violating its airspace on February 27, capturing Indian Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The response is celebrated annually, unearthing a trove of memes featuring Abhinandan's video which sees him appreciate the treatement he received by the Pakistani military and also praise the tea he was served. “Tea is fantastic,” he is heard saying in the clip.

"I'd like to put this on record: I will not change my statement even when I go back to my country. The officers of the Pakistan Army have looked after me very well, starting from the captain who rescued me from the mob, from the soldiers, and thereafter, the officers of the unit I was taken to. I would expect my army to behave in the same way. And I'm very impressed with the Pakistan Army," he tells his co-pilots in India through the video message. When an officer probes, "I hope you like the tea?" Abhinandan replies, "The tea is fantastic, thank you."

Abhinandan was allowed to return to India as a gesture of peace on March 1 but Pakistanis have since been sipping on the joke that doesn’t seem to lose its taste. And while reactions have been dull, due to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, hashtag #SurpriseDay is trending on the micro-blogging site with memes pouring in alongside prayers.

Singer and host Fakhr e Alam tweeted Sunday morning: "Wishing you all a very Happy Fantastic Tea Day. A gentle reminder that we serve fantastic tea on the dialogue table as well. So, the choice is yours, [whether] you want to pay with a plane and a pilot or just have a nice talk and sip on tea for free."

"Stay home, stay safe," advised a user.

As per almost tradition now, many reminded each other of the price Abhinandan had to pay for the "fantastic tea".

Some also lauded the real man of the match.

"Just a reminder," wrote a user with a picture worth a thousand words.

Others are still busy appreciating the art.

While several are pointing out, "Today, if our situation is not like Ukraine's, then there is a uniform behind it."

Many are simultaneously praying for Ukrainian lives as Russian forces break through Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, where street fighting is now taking place, as per AlJazeera. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready for peace talks but not in Moscow’s preferred venue of Belarus. Russian strikes have also targetted Ukrainian oil and gas facilities, igniting a depot near the capital, Kyiv.

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