Jokes on Covid-19 flood social media

Social media platforms that are choc-a-bloc with irrepressible individuals demonstrating their creativity with memes, jokes and humorous quotes even in the worst of times, have found a new subject - the novel coronavirus that is spreading dread and death across the world.

It took off in India after March 10 when Union Minister Ramdas Athawale led the now virally famous ‘Go Corona Go’ chant at a prayer meeting in Mumbai. Mr Athawale had even convinced the Chinese Consul-General to join in the chant, which was apparently aimed at driving away the dreaded virus.

Not surprisingly, Mr Athawale’s sombre prayer has spawned several disc jockey versions, and some that have changed his performance into trance music, others that are plain fun, and yet others that are mocking in tone.

The Billboard chartbuster song by Camila Cabello, ‘Havana’, now has a coronavirus version, and bhajans too have been rewritten focusing on the virus.

The ‘Suno na, suno na’, song from Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherji’s 2003 Bollywood hit Chalte Chalte, has been making the rounds over the past few days in a well re-composed ‘Corona, Corona’ version.

There’s a flood of TikTok videos and songs and posts from religious groups.

Hymns on Coronavirus from Italy after the government’s decision to lockdown were sung by people from their balconies. S. Quraishy, a music instructor who prepares students for the certificate courses in music offered by Trinity College, London, said: “We should appreciate the talent. Those videos are so well made, with impeccable music and well-written lyrics.” If the coronavirus has done nothing else, it has at least brought out the creative talent in the populace at large.