But why, penguin? Mumbaikars and experts dissect the viral video trending online

The penguin does not rush It pauses turns its head looks back at the dark mass of its colony and then continues walking alone towards the mountains In Werner Herzogrsquos Encounters at the End of the World 2007 the moment lasts only a few seconds Herzogrsquos voiceover is calm almost clinical until it lands on a line that now feels prophetic in the age of the Internet ldquoHe the penguin would neither go towards the feeding grounds at the edge of the ice nor return to the colony With 5000 kilometres ahead of him hersquos heading towards certain deathrdquo Then came the question that has since escaped the film and taken on a life of its own online mdash but whyIn Werner Herzogrsquos Encounters at the End of the World documentary a penguin detaches itself from its colony and walks away towards distant mountains leaving viewers asking themselves ldquoBut whyrdquo PICINSTAGRAMifpworldThe video despite being released almost 20 years ago is trending on social media now as the ldquonihilist penguinrdquo meme The penguinrsquos actions have been decoded thousands of times often with absolute certainty ldquoThe penguin is depressed The penguin is rebelling The penguin is tired of the system The penguin is usrdquo With melancholic music on top the clip has become a vessel for nihilism freedom burnout and radical independenceFor Kritagya Saxena a 21yearold computer science student the first impression was far less loaded He encountered the clip on YouTube Shorts stripped of context ldquoMy first instinct was not to see it as getting away from the colonyrdquo he says pointing out that many versions show only a single penguin on ice It was only later after watching extended edits that the narrative of abandonment became clearKritagya SaxenaA film enthusiast Kritagya saw the penguin less as a symbol of despair and more as an explorer suspended in uncertainty ldquoI understand geography mdash that penguin wonrsquot survive much on mountains mdash but he is not there yetrdquo he explains ldquoIt does not conclude anything It felt like someone who just needs a break or explorationrdquo For him the pull of the clip lay as much in the stark beauty of Herzogrsquos cinematography as in the animal itself ldquoIf it was just the video I donrsquot think people would look so deeply into itrdquo he adds ldquoBut when you put background music and edits it starts sticking with you with the narrative it is trying to portrayrdquoPenguins at the Byculla zoo File picThat narrative hunger according to adman Rahul daCunha has as much to do with how we now relate to each other as it does with algorithms ldquoWe live in a time where real interactions donrsquot have the same fulfillment as something outside of usrdquo he says ldquoYou can detach from your own emotions With a real person you have to deal with a real person Social media brings you a sense of detachmentrdquoTrends he notes are built to feel meaningful in the moment and disposable soon after ldquoEvery time there is a challenge or a trend it seems to have some sort of meaning in that moment but it fades away next weekrdquo He also wonders whether the resonance says something about the collective mood ldquoAs people are getting more isolated and perhaps mental health is affected are we finding meaning where none may actually existrdquoPodcaster Kautuk Srivastava takes this a step further placing the penguin firmly inside humanityrsquos long tradition of mythmaking ldquoHuman beings are meaningmaking animalsrdquo he says ldquoYou look at a cloud and see a horse You look at the night sky and see hunters and bearsrdquo To him the clip almost feels animated ldquoIt looked like a Pixar film come to liferdquo he says noting how deeply penguins are culturally coded as communal creatures A lone penguin simply by behaving differently becomes narratively irresistibleDr Sanjay Kumawat Kautuk Srivastava Rahul daCunha and Abhishek SatamThe truth he reminds us is unknowable ldquoIt could literally be that the penguin got pressure really quickly and thought lsquoI donrsquot want to do it in front of everybody elsersquo But wersquoll always find our own meaning to put on thingsrdquo Edits he says do most of the emotional work ldquoEvery edit is an edit into reality If you put sad music it becomes sad If you put happy music it becomes happyrdquo He laughs at how quickly seriousness collapses ldquoI eventually saw the video and thought it was hilariousrdquo The penguin in his view is just the latest in a line of Internet animal protagonists ldquoEvery so often we choose one animal to become the Internet hero of the monthrdquoPart of that appeal Srivastava suggests lies in trust ldquoWith people online itrsquos such a disingenuous place You never know their motive With animals there is nothing like that They feel like a purer form of beingrdquo They are what they are animals But when identification with isolation becomes intense or repeated psychologists urge some caution Dr Sanjay Kumawat consultant psychologist at Fortis Hospital Mulund traces part of this impulse back to the pandemicldquoDuring COVID our social life was totally friedrdquo he says Social media became a substitute form of connection a ldquocognitive exerciserdquo that offered security against loneliness For some especially those shaped by trauma bullying or abuse going ldquoantisocialrdquo becomes a form of resistance ldquoThey develop disregard for rules and authorityrdquo he explains Visibility then becomes a way to reclaim identity ldquoBeing different gives them pleasure It gives them a sense that lsquoI am somebodyrsquordquoSeen from this angle identifying with symbols of isolation can be a metaphor but it can also signal a desire to be seen precisely through standing apart Biologically however the penguinrsquos behaviour is far less dramatic than the Internet would have us believe ldquoItrsquos not uniquerdquo says zoo biologist Abhishek Satam at the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Udyan in Byculla Penguins may walk away from a group out of curiosity attraction to food or simple disorientation Climate change he adds has also affected navigation patterns ldquoSometimes they show such behaviour Itrsquos a pretty common thingrdquoOur reaction he suggests is shaped by cuteness and memory ldquoSince childhood wersquove seen penguins as cartoon characters People connect that wayrdquo Perhaps that is the most we can take away The penguin may not be searching for meaning at all The meaning belongs to us as it is stitched together from edits music timing and a world eager to see itself reflected even in a bird walking quietly into the ice