Masala investigates this ‘apparent’ new trend. #NoShotNoKnot
By Ashima Sethi
Earlier in the week a matrimonial advert presumably from Kerala went viral on the internet, suggesting that a vaccinated bride was seeking a vaccinated groom. Details that were listed state that the woman had been vaccinated with both doses of Covishield and desires an alliance with a Roman Catholic boy between the ages of 28-30 years, who is a post-graduate, independent, patient, humorous, and reads books (I mean…don’t we all at this point.)
The ad went so viral that politician and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor reposted it on his Twitter page, stating that “Vaccinated bride seeks vaccinated groom! No doubt the preferred marriage gift will be a booster shot?! Is this going to be our New Normal.” Well Shashi, it might be too early to say, but I doubt anyone would be surprised if we are heading in the direction where people begin standing firm on the #NoShotNoKnot idea.
Responding to Shashi’s tweets, netizens had a lot of opinions regarding this new ‘matrimonial trend.’ One user tweeted, “Now one more criteria to be eligible, Vaccine can not be Covaxin. Pfizer will be rated above ?” While another wrote, “Kudos to the girl seeking a vaccinated groom. She is helping and encouraging youths for vaccination.” However, my personal favourite from the bunch is a tweet that reads: “The new normal should be newspapers without these ads,” because I can’t agree more.
Unfortunately since going viral, the ad has since been debunked as a fake created using a digital app and the phone number listed is actually that of a vaccination centre (sorry to everyone who was rushing off to fix their biodatas). As the ad has picked up so much momentum, its creator, Savio Figueiredo from Goa, told the Indian Express that “I created the ad with the intention of encouraging people to take the vaccine and posted it on my Facebook page. Someone got the bull by the tail, thought it was real, and now it has gone viral.”
So this specific ad might not be real, but with some matrimonial ads asking for truly ludicrous things like a full grown woman who weighs 30 pounds with a 10 inch waist and skin as white as Robert Pattinson‘s in the Twilight franchise, I won’t be surprised if this vaccine trend actually picks up.
