November 23, 2018
After the viral ‘ke-ke’ challenge, social media is now getting sensational with the ‘nill nill ente neelakuyile’, a Malayalam song sung by Jassie Gift that became viral throughout the social media. This is a song from the Malayalam film ‘Rain Rain Come Again’ directed by Jayaraj in 2004. Though the film did not perform well in the box office, the song became viral after 14 years.
Getting acclaim late is acceptable but not the risks involved. The dangerous side of the current internet sensation is that youngsters are jumping in front of moving vehicles mainly buses, auto rickshaws and even police jeeps and dancing for few seconds and escaping from the spot. What if a bus driver is not able to apply brake suddenly? This death game is getting viral mainly due to peer pressure and it has to be monitored very cautiously and should be considered even more dangerous than the blue whale games.
The videos we could access clearly emphasise the lunatic attitude of youngsters in Kerala which cannot be ignored as mere teenage pranks. Most of the youngsters suddenly jump in front of either government-run Kerala RTC buses or private buses and start dancing sort of ancient tribal steps. They are not only risking their lives but also of those around. Given the condition of the roads, there is little guarantee that the bus will stop as expected, leading to a great disaster.
“‘Nill nill ente neelakuyile’ is just the Malayalam version Ke-ke challenge. It is fun to watch the videos, till some mishap occurs. A pre-planned video can be accepted to a certain extent. Most of our public transport vehicles are not in proper condition. Risks are galore says Clinton NC Damian, a final year library science student of Kerala University and a frequent public transport user.
“This act is utter stupidity. They may not be bothered about their life but they are risking the lives of innocent people, either passengers or the pedestrians. Will these people take care of the families who lose their only hope because of this nonsense acts? Shooting and spreading of these videos, including the ke-ke challenge, should be classified as cyber crime,” says a sub-inspector in Kerala.
“Driving is a multitasking job, involving action of brain, eyes, ears, hands, legs and every organ at the same time. On an average, a bus may have around 40-50 passengers and these amateur acts pose risk to everyone’s life. The mishap may happen due to the youngsters but the ultimate blame will be on bus drivers. As a driver i do not encourage such acts. You have many other ways to become famous, then why is it putting everyone’s life at risk,” asks Praveen, a tourist bus driver in Thiruvananthapuram.