A class four student’s craft tutorial video in Kerala has delivered a profound life lesson, in a rather accidental way, and it’s winning the internet. Muhammad Fayiz from Kondotty in Malappuram perhaps did not intend to demonstrate that things don’t always pan out the way we want them to, and that’s okay, but his somewhat failed attempt at making a paper flower and a subsequent dialogue did exactly that.
In a two-minute video which has since gone viral, Fayiz is seen instructing his audience on how to make a paper flower. “You need a piece of paper, scissors. You can even take a pencil as I have taken a pencil,” he tells his audience, before going on to make elaborate folds and cuts on the paper. Towards the end of the video, Fayiz unfolds his work expecting to see a flower, but all we see is cut up paper.
Here, he delivers the winning dialogue.
“It works out for some people, doesn’t for others (chelorthe aavum, chelorthe avilla). I didn’t get it right. But that’s not a problem for me,” Fayiz says in a calm and collected manner, holding up an unevenly cut-up paper which looks nothing like a flower.
The little boy’s video – which he reportedly shot on his mother’s phone – eventually found its way to social media and has become quite popular in the last few days. The winning line was even used in political satire shows, political memes and even by Milma (Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation), in a poster which was uploaded on its official page. "Some people get it right, some people don't. But everyone will get tea right, if the milk used is Milma," the poster read.
Following this development, several social media users pointed out that Fayiz’s dialogue has to be purchased from him, and that he deserves royalty for the line. Milma willingly obliged, and showered the little boy with Rs 10,000 as ‘royalty’ along with several goodies such as an Android television worth Rs 14,000 and Milma products.
Milma Malabar’s Managing Director KM Vijayakumaran also clarified that the poster was not a commercial advertisement, adding that it was Milma’s social media wing which came up with the campaign. He said that the idea was to lighten the mood during these stressful times. He also noted that Fayiz’s words were the most motivational ones he had heard in recent times.
Further, Malappuram District Collector, K Gopalakrishnan, too used Fayiz’s line for an awareness poster on COVID-19 which read, “Some people have it, some people don’t. Don’t allow it to spread everywhere.”
According to reports, Fayiz intends to donate the money he received as royalty from Milma to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) for COVID-19 and to support young women from financially poor backgrounds to get married.
Watch the video here: