As the country is fighting the deadly pandemic of COVID-19, many citizens have quarantined themselves to be safe from being contracted from the virus. To battle out the self-isolation, the citizens are coming up with creative ideas to not only keep themselves busy but also cheer up others during these testing times.
In one such incident, drawing inspiration from Italians who have taken to singing in balconies while under self-quarantine, residents of a housing society in Gurugram were seen chanting ‘Gayatri Mantra’ and ‘Hum Honge Kamyab’. Sukriti Dwivedi, a ‘reporter’ at NDTV, shared videos showing residents of an apartment at Gurugram’s Sector 28 residents coming out on their balconies to sing prayer songs “Gayatri Mantra” and “Hum Honge Kamyaab”.
Italy scenes in Gurgaon!
— Sukirti Dwivedi (@SukirtiDwivedi) March 18, 2020
At an apartment in Gurgaon’s Sector 28 residents came out on their balconies to sing prayer songs “Gayatri Mantra Om Bhur Bhuva Swaha” and “Hum honge kamyaab”@ndtv (1/4) pic.twitter.com/gZCY5EoNZN
(3/4) pic.twitter.com/JyJkFBOktb
— Sukirti Dwivedi (@SukirtiDwivedi) March 18, 2020
As the video went viral on social media, netizens praised the residents for indulging in activities that boost the morale of the residents, who have chosen to self-quarantine themselves in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.
Unsurprisingly, the chanting of Hindu hymns by the residents of the society did not go well with the “liberal-secular” ecosystem. The troll army comprising Islamic trolls, members of secular-liberal intelligentsia did not take this event lightly. The trolls took no time to teach secularism to the residents of the society.
They claimed that Gurugram was not locked-down and called the residents chanting Hindu hymns on loudspeakers as another stunt. Some trolls also complained that the residents were just disturbing the other members of the society by chanting Hindu hymns on loudspeakers.
4 – 5 aunties disturbing the whole society so that they can put it on social media to show off 🙄
— Vanar Sena (@CricketBoyss) March 18, 2020
Italy is under lockdown. Gurgaon is not.
A total of 17 people have tested positive in Haryana and a precautionary measure, the state government has ordered closure of schools, colleges and anganwadis to help contain the spread of the virus.
Another Islamic troll mocked the women of the society by claiming that this was a staged event. Resorting to sexist attack, the troll called the event was a promotional event setup by some ‘aunties’ of the society.
Aunty of flat 16B must have messaged aunty of 5A and coordinated with the couple in C Wing to come out, and create a viral video a la Italia🙈
— Maria Sartaj (@MariaSartaj) March 18, 2020
This is a mohalla WhatsApp group production.
Looks contrived, especially when there is no official lockdown in Gurugram.
Another troll who goes by the name Anjali Mody took offence against residents singing Hindu hymns as she drew comparisons with a similar event in Italy, where people were singing songs to battle out the isolation. The troll claimed that people in Italy sang their hearts out and did not chant hymns with microphones, loudspeakers and the national flag.
In Italy people stepped out on their balconies/ stood at windows and sang their hearts out … rousing … cheery stuff. They were not led in singing religious hymns by women with microphones, lousdpeakers and a national flag … 🙄
— anjali mody (@AnjaliMody1) March 18, 2020
Haters also wondered if any of these singing ‘Hum Honge Kamyab’ would have gone to Shaheen Bagh to do the same because clearly, you couldn’t do one thing if you haven’t done the either.
Wonder how many of them had gone to Shaheen Bagh to sing Hum Honge Kaamyab https://t.co/C5b7sQit6K
— moronavirus (@BucketheadCase) March 18, 2020
At a time when the entire world is facing one of the worst health crisis in recent times, there have been brave attempts by some section of the society to keep the hope alive to fight the deadly virus. The collective efforts of the society to boost the morale of the citizens is a must at these times and some residents of the society have done outstanding work to provide some sort of psychological support to the fellow residents who have self-quarantined themselves inside their residences.
However, NDTV pulled down the video as they received the wrath of Islamists and liberals for posting videos that were fundamentally against their secular standards.
NDTV’s move to remove the video also irked the netizens who wondered if Gayatri Mantra wans’t up to the ‘secular’ credentials.
Why delete the video @ndtv ??Maybe because you were expecting them to sing songs like Hum Dekhenge and instead they sang Gayatri Mantra. https://t.co/M7RMUQaO3u
— S. 😎 (@TheSaffronSword) March 18, 2020
Perhaps, NDTV was hoping that the residents sang Islamic poems like “Hum Dekhenge” instead of the Gayatri Mantra to beat the Coronavirus blues, but they seem to have got disappointed and deleted the viral video which had caused severe heartburn to their followers.