Rahul Gandhi is trending, yet again. His adventure in the deep sea, off the coast at Thangassery harbour in Kollam, Kerala, is winning the Internet; the highlight being his jumping into the sea with fishermen. And basking in the moment is Kerala-based vlogger Sebin Cyriac, who shot the video for his YouTube channel, Fishing Freaks. The video clocked over 10 lakh views within 24 hours of its upload.
“I am still in a state of disbelief. It hasn’t sunk in yet,” says Sebin, adding that Rahul left the group “shell-shocked” when he dove into the sea. “Although he had told me that he swims and was a diving instructor during his student days, I didn’t expect him to actually do it,” Sebin remarks.
It was a few weeks ago that Rahul’s team in Delhi had contacted Sebin to discuss the trip. “I got the confirmation a week ago. Perhaps, the subscriber base (1.66 million) of the channel was a reason why they selected me. The conditions were that I have to translate his conversations with the fishermen and that the entire episode should be kept real,” he adds.
(From left) Rahul Gandhi with Sebin Cyriac, Jobin James and Jino Cyriac during the shoot
Sebin claims that outside of his team — which comprised his brother, Jino Cyriac, and friend-cum-cameraman, Jobin James — nobody at the harbour or on the boat knew about Rahul’s arrival. “I was excited about the surprise factor. There were 22 fishermen on the boat, Poondimatha, and you should have seen their reaction when they saw him. They were worried when he took the plunge into the water. He also had bread and tuna curry, which the fishermen had taken with them for breakfast,” says Sebin.
They set sail in the wee hours of February 24 and returned by 8 am. “By that time the harbour had known about his arrival and it was packed with local residents and media,” Sebin adds. He is ecstatic that Rahul has appreciated the video. “I had my apprehensions because the video is of 23 minutes. However, he is happy with how it has turned out,” he says. The 29-year-old, a native of Arpookkara in Kottayam district, started the channel two years ago.
It was last month that the Congress leader was featured in a popular Tamil YouTube food channel, Village Cooking Channel, run by a group of farmers from Chinna Veeramangalam in Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu.
