Vadivelu memes help understand science better

Chennai: Enough of just chalk and talk – let us make it visually funny and scientific say netizens, who post a lot of memes to teach science for kids.

In recent times, Facebook is witnessing a science-related Vadivelu and other actor templates to deliver technical concepts in a light but remember-it-forever way.

When this Facebook meme page named Saara Paambu – yes, the same character seen along with Vadivelu in Marudhamalai – posted an album of funny scientific memes, not just science enthusiasts, but every other person on the platform started to share it.

Some even said, if science had been taught to them in this way, they would not have forgotten the concepts in their lifetime.

Sharing one of the memes captioned proton asking an electron: ‘Porukkiya da nee? Ennayae suthi suthi vara’ on Nazriya-Arya template from the movie Raja Rani, user Arwindh Panneerselvam wrote, ‘Probably how science has to be taught’.

Following Saara Paambu, many meme creators and pages started to post funny content under the tag, ‘Scientific Meme’.

For instance, there was a meme relating the scene ‘Minnal’ comedy scene of Vadivelu from the movie Maayi with length contraction factor of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity: ‘An object looks distorted when travelling at speed of light’. Sharing that, a Facebookite, Thiyaga Saravanan, said, ‘Finally Physics Explained in a Better Way !!!’

Viknesh Rao, a science-teaching volunteer from Bhumi, an educational NGO, said,”I had forgotten a lot of science concepts as most of them were taught to me in conventional methods. But, after I see these memes, I think they were not just a recalling media but they will not let me forget the ideas till the end of life.”

However, Viknesh does not recommend teaching this for lower classes. “Understanding meme itself demands maturity. Though they seem funny, they have two sides. One is the actual scene on the template. Say, in a Vadivelu comedy, where everyone hits him, there would be a reason for his getting beaten up. Now, the meme creator will replace his idea on the original scene. So, only if a person can understand both sides, he can perceive it in the right,” explained Viknesh.

So, it should be tried on someone in the penultimate teenage group or more than that. “But I am very sure, it will work in colleges as I have experienced it myself,” he added.