RAWALPINDI: The year 2020 will join the list of years that are so eventful they are regarded as pivotal in history: long remembered for when more than 1.7 million people globally died in a pandemic.
For Pakistan, too, 2020 was a difficult year, with almost 10,000 people dead and over 475,000 inflicted with the virus.
But among the doom and gloom, the Internet has provided Pakistanis some hilarity and positivity in this difficult time. Below are some of the greatest viral moments of 2020:
That sounds ‘grape’:
In a 10-year-old video that has recently gone viral, the assembly at a school for Pakistani expatriate children in Jeddah is presided over by Sehar Kamran (who would later go on to become a senator in Pakistan). She asks the kids what they would like to do when they grow up. To many of the children’s responses — pilot, soldier, etc. -, Kamran says what sounds like “grape” instead of “great.” The word grape has since entered the cultural lexicon, with people even putting it on birthdays cakes (“24? That’s grape!”), according to Dawn writer Haseeb Asif. Here is a thread of the hilarious clips:
oh my god there are clips of students saying their goals and promises to help pakistan on tiktok and i’m deddddddddd pic.twitter.com/DRR1c7KT3J
— Ayesha Muzaffar (@andiwasjustlike) August 24, 2020
Maria B’s ‘The Scream:’
Veteran fashion designer Maria B found herself at the center of major controversy in the early days of the pandemic when she put out a video calling for support after she and her husband were questioned by authorities, and her husband was taken into custody, for sending a member of their domestic staff home on public transport after he tested positive for COVID-19 — in complete violation of guidelines. The designer’s video, with its lavish backdrop complete with a massive chandelier, was relentlessly mocked on social media for its sense of entitlement and brazen display of elite privilege, and a freeze-frame from the clip has since become a go-to reaction shot by Pakistani social media users. For example:
“My friends when i tell them i’m in love again,” one Twitter user wrote, posting the shot:
my friends when i tell them i'm in love again pic.twitter.com/YcBQZU9R5A
— Faizan. (@thoraoffbeat) March 25, 2020
Ahmer Naqvi, sports and culture writer, said: “All the active bacteria and virus in my food when I say bismillah before taking a bite.”
All the active bacteria and virus in my food when I say bismillah before taking a bite pic.twitter.com/X2OYL5izeH
— Ahmer Naqvi (@karachikhatmal) March 25, 2020
Others put Maria B’s distressed image from the video on Edvard Munch’s famous painting “The Scream:
OMG WHO DID THIS? pic.twitter.com/kU88NYUUZY
— Syed Sarmad Amer Gilani (@TheRedGlasses) March 28, 2020
Pakistani Twitter vs. Ishaq Dar:
Former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s interview on BBC HARDtalk went viral, with Twitterati making memes of Dar’s panicked face over being asked tough questions about his assets by host Stephen Sackur.
“When you have out of syllabus questions in exams,” one user said, posting a shot of Dar from the interview:
When you have out of syllabus questions in exams#IshaqDar pic.twitter.com/ySb7U0MgbW
— BeNishhh (@BeNish662) December 1, 2020
Another user posted:
Pakistani politician are the goldmine for memes #IshaqDar pic.twitter.com/RfhuzcBUDf
— Nasc (@notasocialbeing) December 1, 2020
Civil war in Karachi:
Hilarity ensued on Pakistan social media in October after misinformation was widely circulated on Indian mainstream and social media claiming a civil war had broken out in the Pakistani city of Karachi.
Pakistanis turned to the Internet to debunk the rumors and to poke fun at media and social media users in India, a bitter rival and neighbor with whom Pakistan has fought three wars.
One user posted a funny photo and joked that citizens had now joined the civil war and were fighting the Pakistan army:
BREAKING NEWS: WE HAVE VISUALS COMING IN FROM KARACHI SHOWING THAT CITIZENS HAVE NOW JOINED THE CIVIL WAR AND ARE FIGHTING PAK AIR FORCE pic.twitter.com/pOV3MMXDg6
— Ghaura (@ghauraghaura) October 21, 2020
Other users described life under civil war:
“During the civil war in Karachi today I managed to get in a full day of work, got groceries, went to the gym, went to studio, went to see my girlfriend,” Faisal Rafi wrote. “The civil war was pretty chilled I must say.”
during the civil war in Karachi today I managed to get in a full day of work, got groceries, went to the gym, went to studio, went to see my girlfriend, the civil war was pretty chilled I must say, like one of those arty bollywood flicks from the 60’s
— Faisal Rafi (@faisalrafi) October 21, 2020
Singer and actor Fakhr-e-Alam tweeted: “Karachi civil war has gotten so bad that my food panda delivery boy had to crawl through mine fields carrying his AK47, RPG & 9mm along with my nihari and Biryani. This thing is getting so serious.”
Karachi civil war has gotten so bad that my food panda delivery boy had to crawl through mine fields carrying his AK47, RPG & 9mm along with my nihari and Biryani. This thing is getting so serious. Multiple cows have been killed & people are dying of over eating. #IndianMedia
— Fakhr-e-Alam (@falamb3) October 21, 2020
‘No fear’ Asif Magsi:
Pakistani TikTok user and long jumper Asif Magsi’s videos showing him jumping over motorcycles and lakes went viral on social media in August, prompting the Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) to invite him for training.
When he started out, Magsi told Arab News in an interview, he could jump over five motorcycles parked in a row but can now cross eleven, as seen in a viral video of him shared on various social media platforms. He said he was unaware of long jump records but could cross nearly 25 feet or 7.6 meters. The world record for the long jump is 8.95 meters while the Asian record is 8.33 meters.
“I was not expecting my video made almost a week ago will get so much attention,” Magsi said, adding that he wanted to represent Pakistan at international games. “Now everyone in my family and people in the area are happy.”
Nine-times Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis took to twitter to appreciate Magsi, saying “with his lack of fear, he has the perfect mindset.”
Actually with his lack of fear, he has the perfect mindset. https://t.co/qYOTX40Cvn
— Carl Lewis (@Carl_Lewis) August 3, 2020
The 19 in COVID-19:
Pakistani social media users took to Twitter and Facebook in June to poke fun at a bizarre definition of COVID-19 offered by the country’s minister for climate change Zartaj Gul who said the virus was called COVID-1 because it “has 19 points and it is a type of flu that can affect a country in one of the 19 ways … Its severity depends upon the immunity level of people in the country concerned.”
“F-16 is 16-seater,” one Twitter user posted in response:
F-16 is 16 seater!#Zartajgul pic.twitter.com/KB6d8a4dVF
— K@thOL!Con° (@El_jawad_le) June 21, 2020
Another said: “20 players play T20, that’s why it is called T20.”
20 players play in #T20
That's why it is called #T20(#Zartajgul) pic.twitter.com/sIba0xALst
— Noorima khanam (@KhanamNoorima) June 21, 2020
Teacher encourages students to post questions to NASA, scientists reply:
When Pakistani teacher Aimun Faisal posted her students’ questions to NASA on Twitter in October, never did she imagine scientists and astronauts would respond — and her post would go viral.
The fourth-grade teacher at Karachi’s Cornerstones School asked her students to write down questions about the solar system, of which six selected questions and the names and photos of the students who had asked them were posted by Faisal on Twitter.
“These fourth graders have some questions for you,” said the post, in which NASA astronauts and other scientists were tagged. The tweet went viral.
Collecting all responses from astronauts/scientists today in one thread for you to go over (and me to organize and print).
Original tweet: https://t.co/khEgEYJWyF
— Aimun (@bluemagicboxes) October 14, 2020
To Faisal’s surprise and joy, astronauts and scientists replied.
Astronaut Chris Hadfield said to a student called Rayyan who had asked if he ever felt “scared” his space ship would get lost in space:
“Rayyan — I wasn’t scared we’d get lost. We had the Earth nearby, and used the stars to steer. I felt especially comforted when I flew over home. Here’s a photo I took of Karachi — can you find your school?”
Rayyan - I wasn't scared we'd get lost. We had the Earth nearby, and used the stars to steer. I felt especially comforted when I flew over home. Here's a photo I took of Karachi - can you find your school? https://t.co/QBgI7W7weC pic.twitter.com/qrUYHr8GqY
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) October 14, 2020
To Haniyah, who asked if it was true that it rained diamonds on Jupiter, Emily Calandrelli, an American science communicator and the host of Xploration Outer Space and Emily’s Wonder Lab, wrote:
“Haniyah -It’s definitely possible!! The same physics and chemistry that creates diamonds here on Earth (putting Carbon under super high heat/pressure) exists on planets like Jupiter, so some scientists hypothesize that it’s raining diamonds there! Wouldn’t it be fun to see that?!”
Minahil - NASA needs all types of people for their missions! Mostly scientists and engineers (so studying a STEM degree is a good idea!) but also IT people, human resources specialists, accountants, technicians, writers, etc! But remember you will probably need to be a US citizen
— Emily Calandrelli (@TheSpaceGal) October 14, 2020
