Mobile internet in Jammu and Kashmir gives social media humour a 4G edge

High speed mobile internet services are back in Jammu and Kashmir but only in Ganderbal and Udhampur and humour mills are on overdrive with whacky one liners, visual jokes and a veritable meme fest playing out on social media.

Sharp, satirical and sometimes just slapstick, the posts, mostly on Twitter, reference Bollywood, use photographs and also some nifty photoshop editing to make their point and tickle a few funny bones while they are at it.

So there is one post featuring an 'Air Company' boarding card from Srinagar to neighbouring Ganderbal, the prized Kashmir district 30 km away where 4G mobile services started from August 16 as a trial till September 8.

The administration has also started 4G services in Udhampur in Jammu.

And Twitterati just can’t get over it, it seems.

There are plenty of Bollywood memes – an anguished Alia Bhatt sobbing as she clings to a wall in a scene from her film "Raazi" and a speech bubble which has her saying, "Mujhe Ganderbal jaana hai" (I want to go to Ganderbal).

Then there is Hrithik Roshan in a scene from 'Koi Mil Gaya' standing tall – dressed in glares, blue shirt and red shirt -- amongst a gaggle of little children. He is labelled Ganderbal and the children the various other districts in the Valley. "Heh, main bachcho se baat nahin karta" (I don’t talk to children) is the line scrawled at the bottom of the picture.

Ranveer Singh stars in the meme carnival too. Looking very serious and pensive in a still from 'Gully Boy' with the words, "Apna time aayega" (Our time will come), a snatch from a rap song from the film.

A scene from 'Partner' starring Salman Khan and Govinda is also doing the rounds. Salman is 'Srinagar' looking glumly at a beaming Govinda, who is, of course, 'Ganderbal'.

Using the hashtag #4GTrial, one Twitter user said, "4G restored in only Ganderbal and Udhampur. Meanwhile, rest of Jammu and Kashmir." The photograph accompanying it is from another Bollywood film with Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Suneil Shetty walking glumly with this dialogue – “Bahut galat hua re deva" (things have gone so wrong).

If not Bollywood, there is inspiration aplenty from photographs in the news and other sources too.

"Ganderbal and Udhampur taking 8mbps speed… Meanwhile other districts," said a Twitter, choosing a picture with two formally dressed elderly gentlemen, one Ganderbal and the other Udhampur, talking earnestly while a Neanderthal like figure, labelled 'other districts' listens in.

The contrast between the two 'pilot' districts and the others was driven home, tongue firmly in cheek but effective nonetheless.

Another post had a bus, impossibly crowded with people on the roof and hanging on precariously to windows and doors, and the simple two words – "Ganderbal Chalo".

People in the union territory, particularly in the Valley, have long demanded high-speed mobile connectivity. It was suspended for months after Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, on August 5 last year. From February this year, 2G services were started.