The perils of video-conference calls are manifold, something Shweta realized all too late. Forgetting to switch off the microphone or accidentally turning it on could lead to some really embarrassing revelations, but things went a bit too far when a Zoom class was privy to a very personal conversation between two friends, Shweta and Radhika, perhaps on a phone call, and one of whom (Shweta) is clearly audible as she discusses a private conversation she had with a boy who had wanted her to keep it a secret.
Unheeded Warnings & Snippets
Fellow classmates keep warning her, but it seems as if she had turned off her speakers, during her conversation which was now being heard by over a 100 people – her classmates. ‘Usne yeh apne best friend ko bhi nahi bataya (He didn’t even share this with his best friend)’, she’s heard saying, in response to which one of the attendants of the meeting quips – ‘Ab yeh 111 logon ko pata chal gaya hai (Now, 111 people have heard of it).’ Meanwhile, someone had the presence of mind to record the meeting. And now, thanks to that person, the entire country can be quippy and get in on the fun.
It’s Raining Viral Content, People!!!
This Zoom call went viral across several social media
platforms – Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram – which are now filled with memes
poking fun at Shweta’s expense. Funnily enough, this comes in the wake of
another trending video featuring a girl from Pakistan, whose accented pawri led to a parody song from a
Mumbai-based musician and tons of celebrities joining in the fun. It
seems like the Zoom girl has stolen away the pawri girl’s thunder.
#Shweta > #Cricket
To give you some context of the scale and impact of the Shweta phenomenon, on the day of one of India’s premier events – the IPL auctions in Chennai, India, #Shweta overtook #IPLAuction and #PetrolPriceHike on Twitter, with thousands of tweet threads, filled with memes and spoof videos, put up and shared by the Desi Twitterati. People’s creativity seems no bound. From old Hindi movies to classic mythology shows, it seems like everything can become a template for the meme-threads that are all the rage right now. We can expect brands to jump in the bandwagon, too, like they did with the pawri girl. In fact, it has already begun. Internshala – one of the premier internship-providing organizations, also insist that their courses and opportunities will not betray like Shweta betrayed the Pandit boy.
Parting Words
In the midst of the whole storm, some people, it seems, are also sympathizing with Shweta. Seeing that this could happen to anyone, maybe the best course of action is to not be a tattertale, divulging information and secrets which were told in confidence, and maybe also keep checking your microphone every once in a while, just to be sure!
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