The internet is presently fascinated with the video of a woman performing aerobics on the side of the road, blithely oblivious that a coup is taking place behind her. The instructor's video, which has since gone viral shows a convoy moving down the road in the background even as she remains wholly unaware. But it is perhaps the music synced to her routine and blaring throughout the video that makes it so very incongruous.
As we now know, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party were detained on Monday morning amid a communications blackout, hours before lawmakers were to gather in Naypyitaw.
This would have been the first session of Parliament since elections took place. And while the NLD had secured itself a landslide victory, the army says that the detentions were a response to "election fraud". Reportedly, power has now been handed over to military chief Min Aung Hlaing and a state of emergency has been declared in the country for one year.
The situation has evoked widespread condemnation from nations across the world, with many including India condemning the actions and calling on Indian travellers to exercise caution.
The now viral video was first posted on Facebook by Khing Hnin Wai whose profile identifies her as a Physical Education Teacher at the Ministry of Education. Reports have identified her as the woman in the video, and this is further reinforced by her later social media posts where she is defending herself against trolls.
The video shows her executing a routine even as the vehicles enter into the camera frame and then move swiftly away, eventually fading into the background. And while she appears to be wholly unaware of the situation, many online appear to be fascinated by how the song seems to have been synced to the movement of vehicles. As the tempo of the upbeat song increases, so does the number of vehicles and their movement.
