Joie de vivre: why we love Gandimathi Muthusamy

Singapore has a new internet celebrity: Gandimathi Muthusamy, otherwise known as the Singapore Hail Woman. The short 33 second interview first started making its rounds on Facebook and there have been several local DJs who have set her interview to music and the one that has truly gone viral is the version by FallenSuperHero who currently has over 300,000 hits on his Youtube page in a matter of days. Clearly, his version is the most catchy and is a real earworm (I can't get it out of my head), but have you ever wondered why many of us have totally fallen in love with Gandimathi Muthusamy from Jurong West?

The first time I saw her video, I squealed with delight because of her joie de vivre: it is a French phrase that translates as the joy of living.  One would use this phrase to express a cheerful enjoyment of life, an exultation of spirit. Gandimathi was clearly thrilled by the experience of witnessing the hailstorm and wasn't afraid to share it - her bubbly joy was infectious and I just had to burst out laughing when she said that she put the hailstone on her tongue, "Then I put it inside my tongue, I feel it is ice like that, then I throw back."

Now putting a hailstone in your mouth is probably something one would expect a child to do, rather than an adult, but why? A child sees hailstones and thinks, ooh that's fun, that's new, that's interesting, I wonder what it would taste it? The child is motivated by curiousity and would act on impulse, without worrying too much about the consequences. An adult on the other hand, would probably wonder if it is unhygienic to put an ice cube in one's mouth, if one might get sick from dirty hailstones especially since there had been a smoky haze hanging over Singapore. Would there be particles of pollution in the hailstones?

Oh the sense of duty that makes us adults behave in a responsible way often stops us from having fun, being spontaneous and following our impulses - that is why it is so lovely to see a 44 year old adult still being able to give in to her inner child and just enjoy the wonder of a rare hail storm in Singapore. Oh if only more of us can be like her and find that inner child which will allow us to appreciate the wonders that life throws at us. And yes, I have put snow in my mouth - but only freshly fallen snow, because I share in Gandimathi's joie de vivre. That's why I go sledding in London whenever it snows, I don't care if I am surrounded by kids and I'm the only adult sledding! I'm a big kid at heart.

I have spoken to some Singaporeans about the hail and it was depressing some of the crap they had come up with. There was this older Singaporean woman (who shall not be named, but you can probably guess who) who claimed, "the weather has gone crazy, Singapore where got hail like that one? This is global warming making the world's weather system crazy. So dangerous, what if children get caught in the hail?"

I replied, "I think children will enjoy being caught in the hail - it is something different for them to experience, to enjoy. I hope they will pick it up, feel the ice in their hands, maybe even put it in their mouths like that Indian auntie did. They will then talk about it with their friends and teachers - then their teachers can teach them all about hail and how hail is formed, how it is different from rain and snow and it can be a really educational experience for the children. Auntie, do you know how hail is formed?"

She admitted she didn't have a clue how hail is formed, all she knows is that it rarely ever hails in Singapore as it is usually very hot. I then had to explain to her how huge convection currents can occur during massive tropical thunderstorms and that there was a perfectly logical, scientific explanation as to why and how hail storms can occur in the tropics. It wasn't just "the weather's gone crazy" - oh please, can we try to use modern science to understand weather phenomena like hail storms rather than just use the word 'crazy'? Even if you didn't do geography at school or have forgotten that lesson when your teacher discussed hail, surely it would only take you a few minutes to look it up on Google or Wikipedia and understand the science behind hail?

This is why so many people enjoy watching that interview with Gandimathi Muthusamy - it's not that we're laughing at her, we're laughing with her. She's bringing us joy and she is sharing her joy with us. A happy person who understands joie de vivre will just share her joy and smile, maybe laugh. I am disappointed by some of the reactions I've seen on social media - someone said, "This woman so suaku - hailstone only mah, what's the big deal? Why act like so happy until like that? What is so special about hail? A bit of ice only what..."

Can you find joy in a hailstorm?

It's a sad moment when one reaches that stage in one's life (probably some time around our teenage years) when I start worry about what other people think about us. Why do we crave for the approval of others around us, why do we attach so much importance to what they think of us? Think back to your teenage years - wasn't there a time when we worried about what our peers might have thought about our hair, our bag, our shoes, our weight, our skin, our grades or some other aspect of ourselves that we were worried they didn't like? Isn't nice to meet a happy woman who just doesn't care what others think and just enjoys a hailstorm in her own unique way?

Another reaction I have seen on Facebook was this, "Stop sharing this video people, think about that poor auntie. Some reporter just interviewed her about the hail, she didn't ask to become some internet sensation on Facebook with people sharing this remix of her interview. She didn't give that DJ permission - so stop making fun of her, please."

Well, she didn't give her consent to the auto-tune remix... but most people who are sharing the video aren't laughing at her, they are laughing with her and sharing in her joie de vivre. And if she enjoyed being in a hailstorm, imagine how much she would enjoy her new found fame as being Singapore's latest internet sensation, Singapore's answer to America's Sweet Brown. Sure she didn't ask to be an internet sensation, the same way she didn't ask to be caught in a hail storm - but you know what? People like her will simply take what life throws at her, have fun with it and find the joy in it. I'm sure she's loving her new found fame.

And the rest of us have got a lot to learn from Gandimathi Muthusamy's joie de vivre. Auntie, we love you! I would love it if Zouk played this incredibly catchy track at Mambo Jambo come 8th August when I will be there. Dear readers, the next time you encounter a hail storm, do pick up a hailstone and put it on your tongue - I know I will :)