While having a common name can create lots of confusion in our day-to-day lives, a man named Kovid has been having his share of limelight amid the Covid-19 pandemic. However, without being offended or being bogged down by countless jokes, he’s been basking in the joy. Now a thread of some of his interesting encounters has gone viral.
When the pandemic hit, Kovid Kapoor, co-founder of the trip planning site Holidify, took to Twitter to put out a disclaimer: “My name is Kovid and I’m not a virus.” However, confusion and hilarity haven’t ceased to flow.
Kovid tweeted how people were amused by his name when he went on his first foreign trip since the pandemic started. Soon, his tweet garnered a lot of attention, and he spoke to about how he took this “as an opportunity to make some light jokes about it” and keep going in such gloomy times.
The 31-year-old businessman based in Bengaluru admitted that running a travelling business through the pandemic has been an “absolute nightmare” but that his sense of humour helped keep his mood light. “We went through a lot of stress to manage our company, and now we’re staring at another wave that’s just getting started. I almost always start my calls with new people with a quick joke about my name!” he said in an email interview, adding that it “works better than generic small talk”.
As his tweet blew up on the platform, feeling like a “mini-celeb”, he shared a full thread recounting some of the “memorable” moments, which even included #Covid-30 being written on his birthday cake!
Asked if he is ever bothered by the jokes, the man said he had learnt to take it all in his stride. “It’s a joke that will probably not get old for the rest of my lifetime, so I’ve made my peace with it,” he said.
“Sometimes, though, when I’m in no mood for a conversation—while getting a coffee, booking a table reservation, I use an alternative name—Kabir Kapoor—so that there’s no chance of talking about it,” he admitted.
