Social distancing: Video of octopus hiding inside a shell aptly captures its meaning
“Safety isn’t expensive, it’s priceless,” IFS officer Susanta Nanda tweeted.
One of the worst threats of recent times, coronavirus, is upending our way of life. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing total lockdown of the nation for the next 21 days, social distancing is the new way of living. And, a video shared by IFS officer Susanta Nanda aptly shows how it should be done.
“Safety isn’t expensive, it’s priceless,” Nanda wrote and shared the video of an octopus. He explained that the creature is a coconut octopus and it goes into isolation whenever it feels threatened. “Time to get into self-isolation like it, to prevent spread of Corona pandemic,” he wrote. Nanda concluded the post with a note of caution, “let’s prepare & prevent so that we don’t have to repair & repent later.”
In the video, an octopus crawls inside an empty shell. As soon as it reaches inside, it shuts the shell using its tentacles.
Since being shared a day ago, the video has garnered over 9,200 views. People agreed with the IFS officer and wrote that social distancing is the way to break the chain of the coronavirus outbreak. Some also tweeted that they’re simply amazed to see such a creation of nature.
“Self-lockdown!” wrote a Twitter user. “Wow! Never knew such species of octopus existed,” commented another. “This is what we need now,” expressed a third. “I have never seen anything like this in 50 years of my life. Stunning!!” wrote a fourth.
“This virus has been spreading very fast across the world. It spreads like wildfire. Looking at the experience of these countries, and what the experts say, the only successful way to tackle the spread of the virus is social distancing,” said prime minister yesterday while announcing the lockdown.
ABOUT THE AUTHORTrisha SenguptaTrisha Sengupta works as Chief Content Producer at Hindustan Times with over six years of experience in the digital newsroom. Known for her ability to decode the internet’s most talked-about moments, she specialises in high-engagement storytelling that bridges the gap between viral trends and traditional journalism. Throughout her tenure, Trisha has focused on the intersection of technology, finance, and human emotion. She frequently covers personal finance and real estate struggles in hubs like Gurgaon, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, while also documenting the unique challenges of the NRI experience. Her work often highlights the movements and philosophies of global newsmakers and personalities like Elon Musk, Mukesh Ambani, Nikhil Kamath, Dubai crown prince, and MrBeast. From reporting on Amazon or Meta layoffs and startup culture to the emergence of AI-driven platforms like Grok and xAI, she provides a grounded and empathetic perspective on the stories shaping our world. When not decoding the internet, Trisha is likely offline: lost in a book, exploring a historical ruin, or navigating the world as a solo traveler. She balances her fast-paced career with family time and a healthy dose of curiosity, currently trading her "human" sources for silicon ones as she masters AI to future-proof her storytelling.Read More

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