TikTok, video spoofs provide only entertainment in dark COVID times

SRINAGAR:  Imagine a dog scaling a wall calling house owners by name! Visualize a man wearing a crisp suit with a matching tie busy holding a video conference with his boss while down his waist, he is wearing shorts and chopping vegetables for his wife.

Welcome to entertainment-starved Kashmir where Corona-humor has taken the people and social media by storm.

Thanks to Chinese video-app, `TikTok’, people are creating short spoof videos to put smiles on the faces of a common man in Kashmir.

Sample this:  A homemaker dancing to the tunes of famous Bollywood number `aasa pehli baar hua hai satara athra saalon mein’ to rejoice the lockdown.  “Bazaar jane ka tension nahi… Bachoon ke exam ka tension nahi…Husband ke tiffin ka tension nahi… Deear tak soute roho to husband chla rahi nahi…Aaur rishtdaar ghar peae aa rahe nahi…” says the homemaker as she burst into a dance sequence.

Another rib-tickling spoof of a modern-day Anarkali, who dances on `pyar ki to dharna kaya’ before Shahenshah Akbar (Prithviraj Kapoor) when she receives a phone call from Saleem (a lookalike of Dileep Kumar), is breaking the internet.  Hell breaks loose when she asks him to recharge her phone. “…Is se to aap ke Aaba hazoor hi behtar hai, kamaskam balance mango to itnai sawall to nahi karte,” quips Anarkali

Similarly, scores of spoof videos lampooning US President Donald Trump, ministers and other government dignitaries have popped up on social media creating ripples across the valley. Even pictures with funny superimpositions and captions are going viral, bringing much-needed humor to the otherwise boring drawing rooms.

“Humour is important. As adults, we understand that it is an immense crisis but that should not deter us from cracking a joke. Don’t scold kids for laughing out loud. Let us live in the present, moment by moment. The past is gone and the future is not in our control. Think of things that you can control”, said Dr. Arshad Hussain, Professor of Psychiatry, Government Medical College, Srinagar.

Doctors have issued mental health advisory `Dariav kin Darbaar’ (Chatting through windows) to give a sense of belonging to the people who might be encountering negative thoughts, boredom, and frustration in the lockdown.

“Fear is as old as the human race and perhaps the only emotion responsible for human survival on earth in the presence of danger, death, and devastation. It helps us to caliber our responses for survival. We should have it in appropriate doses to help us overcome this crisis as well. However, when fear is excessive it becomes disabling… Use humor and reassurances liberally. Remind each other of past worse situations from which we emerged unscathed”, said Dr. Arshad.