The Tamil Nadu police have been coming up with creative ideas to reinforce lockdown norms among the public. From the corona helmet to the corona auto, all of them seem to be delivering one message: stay at home.
Taking this one step further, police in Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu, have put together a video, inspired by Ghana’s dancing pallbearers, to drive home the same message. The dancing pallbearers from Ghana are all the rage on the internet. The funeral performers from the West African country dance to upbeat music while carrying the coffin during funeral processions, based entirely on the family’s request.
However, the idea of dancing during funeral processions is not new to Tamil Nadu.
This video by the Cuddalore police begins with a young man on a bike, humming a tune to himself. He suddenly brakes to a stop when he spots police at a distance stopping other bikes.
As he wonders about the consequences of driving down the road, his vivid imagination brings a close-up of the police officers. As the man lies on a stretcher, the police officers pick him up. The video then shows the police doing a version of the pallbearers’ dance with the man on the stretcher. Coming back to his senses, the man then decides to turn his bike and ride back home.
The video ends with a police officer on camera saying, “If you stay at home, it stays away from you. If you go out, it will follow and destroy you. Let's break the corona chain.”
#Cuddalore Police coffin dance awareness.
— Apoorva Jayachandran (@Jay_Apoorva18) April 29, 2020
Our #TamilNadu police rock when it comes to new trends!
Amazing #StayAtHome#StaySafe
@PoliceTamilnadu @DadaAwu#Corona #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/c8Yuv59V7j
Interestingly, Ghana’s dancing pallbearers have been gaining attention on the internet during the pandemic. The group was featured by the BBC in 2017, explaining their popularity in Ghana. Now, in 2020, the dancing pallbearers have become a viral meme all over the world. Following suit, the Colombian police recently put out a similar awareness video.
Columbia Police imitating the famous dancing pallbearers from Ghana. The objective of all this is to remind the people to strictly adhere to the STAY AT HOME directive from the Government of Colombia. pic.twitter.com/QFJMa0lkhu
— Embakasi Finest (@ThisIsMboya) April 17, 2020
The internet is filled with memes featuring the dancing pallbearers to spread awareness on social distancing. Here are some examples.
"We'll carry them. We'll bury them. We're going to dance with them." - the Dancing Pallbearers of Ghana to people who don't stay home pic.twitter.com/oWUW8hEvuS
— Gene Park (@GenePark) April 23, 2020
kim, we see you pic.twitter.com/M1NEtFLtJ8
— OFFICIAL GHANA DANCING PALLBEARERS (@DadaAwu) April 25, 2020