Twitter witnessed a hashtag #Pray_for_Neasamani become a worldwide trend in a matter of hours. But just like me, a lot of people had no idea what this meant.
Turns out Neasamani is a Tamil is a legendary icon in Tamil pop culture. Contractor Neasamani is the name of a character played by comedian Vadivelu in a Tamil film named Friends.

How it all started was that a Pakistani meme page called Civil Engineering Learners posted a picture of a hammer with the question — “What is the name of the tool in your country?”
A fan of the iconic character commented on the post saying,

And that brought along other fans who joined in on the joke and asked questions like, “Is he okay?” and asked everyone to pray for him. The joke became so viral that it became the number one hashtag trending on Twitter worldwide.
#Nesamani‘s x-ray showing some fracture because head was hit by suthiyal pic.twitter.com/ywkxLUlThn
— Madhan (@Madhanxray) May 30, 2019
Apollo report about our #Nesamani #Pray_for_Neasamani pic.twitter.com/lnLmh9Ddrn
— kannan (@kannankangeyam) May 30, 2019
TN police 😉 #Nesamani pic.twitter.com/RLzl8nGmCu
— Venkat (@Venkat73134031) May 30, 2019
#Nesamani trump coming for hospital for seeing nesa mani pic.twitter.com/qyf48punAc
— sumith kumar விவசாயி (@sumithkumar427) May 30, 2019
#Nesamani
— EvergreenEnterprises (@healttasesame) May 30, 2019
Sending healthy and tasty vibes your way for a speedy recovery. pic.twitter.com/N9rfORL8i9
watch till the end… vid meme by me… #Nesamani #நேசமணி #Vadivelu4Life #Vadivelu pic.twitter.com/PVIoBvhHMV
— AJEETH AK (@AJEETHAK6) May 30, 2019
It got to the point that even celebrities and officials started tweeting about it.
என் இனிய நண்பன் நேசமணிக்கு எனது மஞ்சள் நிற டர்பன் மீது அதீத பிரியம் உண்டு. இன்று மட்டும் அவன் அதை அணிந்திருந்தால்…ட்ச்! மீண்டு வா நேசா! #Pray_For_Neasamani 💛 pic.twitter.com/zGfVbwwrGM
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) May 30, 2019
#Nesamani is fine now and all set to join the Indian cricket team for #CricketWorldCup2019 along with his friends!💪 #Pray_for_Naesamani pic.twitter.com/0Y5fiKK1kY
— Sibi Sathyaraj (@Sibi_Sathyaraj) May 30, 2019
My uncle’s friend who is a doctor in that hospital says that #Nesamani is doing fine. I have a very strong source in that hospital 🤣 #Pray_for_Neasamani
— Shabbir Ahmed (@Ahmedshabbir20) May 29, 2019
Hope Nesamani is not in this hospital. #Pray_for_Neasamani https://t.co/RV85qOuHrL
— D Suresh Kumar (@dsureshkumar) May 29, 2019
Anyone asking ‘Who is Nesamani’ is unnecessarily insulting Tamil emotions. Just shut up and #Pray_for_Neasamani
— Contractor Dharani Thangavelu (@DharaniT) May 29, 2019
Overenthusiastic fans even edited tweets from world leaders to make them look like they’re also participating in praying for his ‘well-being’.
Not to this extent
— Fredy Francis (@fredy7321) May 30, 2019
#Nesamani #Pray_for_Neasamani #PrayForNesamani pic.twitter.com/ANIyLY3rvm
#Pray_for_Neasamani #Nesamani the whole world is with you nesamani.. Prayers conducted across the globe for his recovery.. pic.twitter.com/dc59HQR7X1
— #Contractor Arun Kumar (@arun1208kumar) May 30, 2019
Even brands joined in the fun.
The only man who could’ve saved Contractor Nesamani with his Epic Reaction Time is now in England! #Thala #Yellove #Pray_for_Neasamani 🦁💛 PC: @BCCI pic.twitter.com/oJMWWBlCfu
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) May 29, 2019
We so wish Krishnamurthy was as professionally trained as our PRO Store painters to have avoided causing this injury.
— Nippon Paint India (@NipponIndia) May 29, 2019
We wish Neasamani a speedy recovery. #Pray_For_Neasamani
Visit our PRO Stores for professional painting services in Chennai, Coimbatore & Trichy. #Nipponpaint pic.twitter.com/hxKF59VXjt
The Tamilians definitely love their entertainers.