A week back, Naveen Razak and Janaki Omkumar took the internet by the storm when the duo danced to Boney-M's iconic single Rasputin. The 30-second-long video of these two medical students from the Government Medical College, Thrissur, dancing in their scrubs was lauded by thousands.
However, two days ago, the duo was subject to communal comments online, when a lawyer from Kerala posted on Facebook, asking Janaki's parents to be careful, possibly because Naveen had a Muslim surname. "There is something fishy here," he wrote. While a few came in support of the lawyer, many protested, asking people to not view everything through a communal lens. Now, the students of Naveen's and Janaki's college had a different way of protesting. They posted another video, this time with more medicos dancing to Rasputin. All of them wore their scrubs and masks, while Naveen and Janaki made an appearance for seconds in the end.
"We shot the video day before yesterday, a few hours after the lawyer's post," said John Sangeeth, the college's students' union chairman. The college has a 25-member-long dance crew and Naveen, Janaki and John are part of it. "We used to be quite active and would conduct workshops constantly. But we haven't had any events since the beginning of the lockdown. However, we conducted a few online meetings," he said.
The new video, John says was a way of extending solidarity to Naveen and Janaki. "This is our statement against hate. Every person has their own way of unwinding and relaxing. During these tough times, dance is what helps them to stay calm," he adds. While the first video was shared by many, including Boney-M themselves, the new video is also doing quite well online.
