Magazine baron falls victim to social networking imposter

He is often dubbed as the King of the Glossies, the Badshah of Buzz, but Nari Hira, Managing Director of Magna Publishing Company Ltd which has a slew of publications like Savvy, Society and Stardust under its umbrella, finds himself at the centre of a Twitter controversy.

The magazine magnate has become the victim of a fake Twitter account. A fake has started tweeting creating an account in his name and picked out his photograph using an Internet search engine. Given Nari Hira's profile, some celebrities have become the butt of stinging barbs via the fake Twitter account.

Through the false Twitter account, Nari Hira is seen tweeting about the latest addition to the Magna stable — a men's magazine called Mandate.

The Nari Hira impersonator tweets to well known news presenter Barkha Dutt that she "owes him" some coverage on Mandate. When are you in Bombay next? The tweet asks.

The fake Twitter account goes on to Tweet, via Nari Hira to Kingfisher baron Vijay Mallya, "Who watches cricket in this day and age? IPL?" Yet another tweet says, "People are asking me here if I am the founder of yellow journalism in India. I proudly say YES, yes I AM."

Hoax
Nari Hira (the real, not the fake) says, "We have filed a complaint today at the Bandra-Kurla police station. The tweeting started on Sunday (April 8) night apparently. I was hoping it would die out, but instead just kept gathering strength, so finally filed a complaint, yesterday (Wednesday, April 11) morning."

Nari Hira added that, "I do not have a Twitter account myself. In fact, I am not on any social media sites — I do not even have a Facebook account.

I discovered this hoax on Monday, (April 9) when somebody from Society magazine was on Twitter and replied to what she thought was my tweet. Then she actually asked me if I had tweeted that and I said I do not have a Twitter account. That is when I learnt a hoax account has been created in my name, with my picture, taken, I think from Google."

The famous, who have often been at the receiving end of Nari Hira's serrated wit, may have taken some of those not-so-kind tweets in their stride.

Yet, Nari Hira says, "I would never say rude things like that. I am so annoyed. At first, I thought it would be best if I ignore it but obviously, this cannot go on.

So many people I know have been tweeted about by the imposter claiming to be me — from Vir Sanghvi to Shobhaa De and Pritish Nandy. I am also supposed to have tweeted to several journalists that I would throw them out from their jobs etc.!"

Friends
Besides the fake Twitter account, there were more surprises in store for Nari Hira. "Like the amount of followers ‘I' managed to garner. I was astonished in a few days, I had hundreds following this fake account."

Some tweets referring to Kabir Bedi and Sandokan (an Italian series) proves, "That whoever this imposter is, he or she knows me very well. To know about something that many years ago, this impersonator obviously, startled me with his knowledge," says Nari Hira.

Getting into damage control mode, Nari Hira did get in touch with some friends and asked them to tweet that this is a fake account.

"I contacted Amitabh Bachchan but he is unwell, so he said he would tweet later. Shobhaa De tweeted that, "The Real Nari Hira is far smarter and wittier than most. Maybe, he should make it official and take the pants off the fake."

Vir Sanghvi after tweeting that it was good to see Nari Hira on Twitter did tweet again, "Just got a call from Nari Hira saying that somebody has started a fake twitter account in his name.

Now unfollowing @naari_hira" Nari Hira added that some of the tweets, "Amaze me, even though it is very embarrassing. I keep thinking of people who could have done this and then, cross them off my mental list.

I hardly use the computer except to check my mail and when I am scouring property options in New York. I use the computer in my office at Prabhadevi and then, at home, I spend my time reading, watching movies...So many people tell me: you should go on Twitter but it does not really interest me."



A Magna spokesperson said that the Cyber Cell has noted the complaint and said they would get to the root of this.

Meanwhile, the real Nari Hira who pioneered the immortal Stardust ‘cat' which ended the fizzy Neeta's Natter column and weaned generations on phrases like ‘Garam Dharam,' ‘The Angry Middle-Aged Man' and ‘Thunder Thighs' can only hope this imposter fizzles out soon. Like one tweet says to him (in another context though) this is a fake. Chinese make.

Some tweets by the imposter

Naari Hira ? @naari_hira

I have learnt how to retwitter my friends. Watch out

Naari Hira ? @naari_hira

Naari Hira ? @naari_hira
I have to confess I watched my first ipl game today. Neeta you need to take your son to the gymnasium. He should learn from your dedication
Naari Hira ? @naari_hira
@iKabirBedi trying my best Kabir. Worth a shot, eh?
In reply to KABIR BEDI

Naari Hira ? @naari_hira
@SrBachchan I've had a CT scan before.The machine pulled an old filling out of my tooth. Tell the doctor about all prior treatments before it
In reply to Amitabh Bachchan

Naari Hira ? @naari_hira
Good night twitter people. early to bed and early to rise makes Nari healthy, wealthy and wise. Fingers crossed ! Naari Hira ? @naari_hira
@BDUTT @ShashiTharoor I'd like to say something about Zardari. He bought 20000 Society magazines & sold them in Pakistan for 10% commission
In reply to barkha dutt

Naari Hira ? @naari_hira
Some punk just messaged me saying that I was too old to be on twitter. I replied- i started society magazine, what did you start? a diatribe
Naari Hira ? @naari_hira
Does anyone know who these stupid girls following me here are?
Naari Hira ? @naari_hira
@TheVijayMallya Who watches cricket in this day and age? IPL?