Bye Bye Nipah: Kerala Celebrates Its Victory Over the Virus With a Music Video!

Kerala has every reason to celebrate its recent triumph over the Nipah virus and they have chosen to do that in a song-dance routine that our country is known for. A video uploaded on YouTube by the channel Millennium Videos shows shots of the people of Kozikode – ground zero of Nipah virus infection 2018 – celebrating in the aftermath of routing the deadly contagion. The Malayalam song is appropriately titled “Bye Bye Nipah” and has an infectious (pun unintended) hook, which will make you hate yourself for humming it from time to time.

The core message that Nipah is finally gone and Kozhikode has successfully vanquished the virus. “We won’t be destroyed, we don’t give up ever,” says the song.

The composer of the song Sai Balan spoke to National Public Radio, an American news organisation that the video was a labour of love. "It;s our way of saying that the anguish and suffering is behind us now." Shaji Kumar, who penned the lyrics of the song said: “The song was an effort to reclaim and celebrate our public spaces after the threat of the epidemic almost shut the city down in fear. We wanted to honour the effort and sacrifice of our healthcare professionals as well.”

But the well-intentioned song barely has any takers. Far from revelling in the celebrations, people have been bashing the song in the comment section, even as one YouTube user also asked for it to be taken down. Here’s the video.

While some may find the song cringey (just stopping short of attaining “Silsila hain silsila”-level greatness), Kerala has legitimately gained its rights to brag about the victory. A month ago, the state was the epicentre of a contagion, which kept the state government and the rest of the country on tenterhooks. A total of 17 people out of the 19 infected succumbed to the Nipah virus infection, marking the mortality rate at 89 percent. Villages turned ghost towns and paranoia was rampant.

When patient zero Mohammed Salih succumbed to the illness, his doctor A.S Anoop Kumar immediately took the matter to virologist Govindakarnavar Arunkumar from Manipal Centre for Virus Research. The state government didn’t waste a second before swinging into action and the infected patients were quarantined.

In the process, some lives were sacrificed and some were martyred, like Nurse Lini’s. The situation could have turned into a massive juggernaut and more lives would have been lost had timely action not been taken by the Kerala government. The states handling of the complicated Nipah virus infection sets an example for the rest of the country to follow. Whether you love the song or hate it, Kerala has every right to gloat!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 02, 2018 11:39 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).