“Men can be booked for continuously staring at women for more than 14 seconds,” announced Kerala’s Excise Commissioner Rishiraj Singh in Kochi on Sunday.
And while Kerala’s Sports Minister EP Jayarajan rebuked the commissioner for interfering in a department he was not a part of, social media, however, was flooded with doubts.
Trolls expressed their gratitude to Rishiraj Singh.
Others poked fun at the “14 seconds” comment.
“What have you done? Murder or robbery?”
“Neither. I went to see a girl. They filed a case saying I looked at her for more than 14 seconds.”
Some users wondered about obvious loopholes.
Ha ha.. why exactly 14 seconds? N who is going to count it? Wht if men stop staring after 13 seconds ? https://t.co/sXm30TVKZh
— Tushar Tere (@deartush) August 15, 2016
Let’s start at the basics. How do we count? 14 seconds is a long time if one goes by Ross’ standards.
1234..14 or 1 Mississippi 2 Mississippi .. ???? ;) https://t.co/lpVTlAecVf
— Arya Shaktar (@arya_shaktar) August 15, 2016
Just like the above meme where the man stares at the woman for 13 seconds, then blinks and continues to stare at her for the next 13 seconds, social media users have already found their way out.
“Staring continuously is punishable, what if we blink?”
“What about men who wear sunglasses?” asks another.
So people of kerala start buying sunglasses.. https://t.co/dm73qDeRUQ
— i_am_it (^_-) (@iamamitsengar) August 15, 2016
Bus stops from tomorrow onwards.
Some resigned themselves to their new time limit.
“I think we can manage with 13 seconds,” says a user.
“13.5 will be safe,” another Twitter user writes.
How did they determine this threshold? What about one stares for 13.5 seconds? https://t.co/uPpVuLmm05
— Sudhanshu S. Singh (@sssingh21) August 15, 2016
One Twitter user even pleaded guilty.
But it’s not just men who have doubts.
Remind me to carry a stopwatch with me always. Humour in daily life https://t.co/XdgX5PfVWo
— Roopa Banerjee (@roopabanerjee) August 15, 2016
While a woman user asks whether she is expected to walk around with a stopwatch, a male user is glad that he owns a chronograph watch to calculate the time accurately.
Now Ive got to go out with stopwatch https://t.co/F4gyVorlpe
— Devansh Chawda (@devansh1103) August 15, 2016
The commissioner’s statement has also driven innovation.
One user suggested glasses that gives out an electric shock when the focus is at a single point for more than 14 seconds.
Does this rule apply to only men or women who stare at women too?
Maybe, maybe not.
What is the cut-off time for women staring women https://t.co/RWEyfCtS0v
— Binary Baba™ v3.1 (@0__1) August 15, 2016