To paraphrase/quote Vir Das the Emmy award-winning comic artist,
Imagine starving for two whole weeks, shunning carbs totally, subsisting on lettuce and its cousins, while investing in a state-of-the-art mobile, to capture the most beautiful holiday pictures one can possibly only to discover to one’s horror that #BoycottMaldives is trending. Definitely, not a great time to post vacay snaps from the Maldives! Social Quotient will surely nosedive. One can even end up being a societal pariah after being unfriended/blocked en masse
For the uninitiated, all this K-Drama (Kopa-Drama) erupted after the Adaraniya-Alpha-Maleji put out a to-die-for share on X about his recent visit to Lakshadweep, the pristine islands. His sartorial style was spot on. His making notes on his pad, as he sunned himself under the blue skies, was pitch perfect. There was a snorkeling bit too as he embraced his inner adventurer.
And just like that the entire mesmerized India wanted a piece of this tranquil land.
Somehow these pleasing visuals got the ministers of Maldives into a terrible mood and they ranted on the best platform possible with multiplying effects. And all hell broke loose.
Then the battle got stinkier with the Indians getting called out as dirty and poor while the online followers huffed and puffed about Maldivians being Brutish
The celebrities added fuel to the fire by jumping onto the bandwagon quickly and playing the fastest finger first, all to show how truly Indian their pulsating hearts are, by putting out supposed pictures of the scenic beaches of Kavaratti and Agatti without realizing that the captivating pictures are of Bora Bora and more. Even if fact-checking went for a royal toss, their ardent fervour can be forgiven, given that this is the awards season and an election year.
Then the much-offended bristling Netizens went ballistic to prove that they too are filled with nationalistic fervour by easing on their trip to Maldivian drops of heaven on earth because hey, we got ours too. Our very own Lakshadweep! After all, we did study about them in Geography, didn't we? Life exists beyond Ayodhya!
True, most wars are fought on SM, but the victory is in Numbers.
How does 5.2 lac (Population of Maldives) compare with 1.4 billion Indians? So The mean-mantris got fired and their envoy got summoned while search percentages on our tiny islands soared.
To make it a level playing field and spicier, the populous China too waded into the choppy waters. It held small bro’s quivering hands, by balancing it out number-wise, pontificating our PM to not take it so personally. It happens you see. Swim along!
Oh boy, talk about turning blue.
This was turning out to be more like all at sea!
Agreed, this uncalled-for bitter exchange blew up rather quickly but hope persists that the massive online activism gets translated to and reflected as right action on land. If we can stand against abrasive behaviour, we can also come together for infrastructure ramp-up and make Lakshadweep a world-class holiday destination. The ground reality now might be slightly deflating but with correct intent and proper rules and regulations in place, we could have super exclusive stays come up within a short span thereby unspooling a lac happy tales.
Only, the Lakshya gotta be Deep!
Truth be told, all this brouhaha kind of brought peace to my unhappy heart. Call me sour grapes if you want to but cuddling up in thick blankets while the mercury plummets and watching sunny pictures of happy people sporting beach-bods isn’t exactly prescribed for the soul.
What stops me from doing the same?
The atmospherics dearies! Firstly, the unreasonable and undependable fog descends on its cat’s paws throwing the flight schedule into disarray. Plus we don’t know which flight will catch fire or whose emergency exit will be yanked off. The safest is thy warm bed. Wait, I haven’t factored in the earthquakes that jolt the NCR with rather unnerving frequencies.
Uff!
AJ Wants to know if after this episode the ageism brigade will go quiet. Look at the Insta game levels of the greying Zeenat Aman and Modiji. They set soaring templates every single time.
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