Thiruvananthapuram: The world’s most advanced fighter jet may be grounded, but it has certainly taken off in Kerala’s meme universe. The UK’s F-35B Lightning II, which made an emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport two weeks ago, has become the centre of a viral meme storm, with everything from "Nokku Kooli" jokes to Bollywood-style jugaad memes doing the rounds.

One post quipped, “If that F-35 spends any more time in Kerala, mind you, we will charge you Nokku Kooli,” referencing the infamous local practice of demanding money just to watch someone work.

Another viral meme mockingly put the aircraft “up for sale,” complete with a fake auction call for interested buyers. Yet another joked, “Kerala is now the only state in India that has an F-35 fighter jet,” while one more user wrote, “We’ve formed a deeply emotional bond with it now. It lives here.”

Comparisons to Malayalam cinema haven’t been far behind either. Film fans are drawing hilarious parallels with Priyadarshan’s cult classic Vellanakalude Nadu, where Mohanlal’s character ends up with a defunct road roller that becomes a village eyesore and refuses to start, despite the efforts of an incompetent mechanic. Clips from both the Malayalam version and its Hindi remake are now circulating online, humorously tagged as “what happens when foreign tech meets local jugaad.”

One meme even joked: “Heard a special engineer from Maharashtra is going to Kerala... to repair an F-35 with jugaad!”

The backstory: Jet still grounded after emergency landing

The F-35B Lightning II, part of the UK’s HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group, was returning from joint maritime exercises with the Indian Navy in the Indo-Pacific region when it was forced to make an emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.

Renowned for its short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) capabilities, the fifth-generation stealth fighter has now been idle on the tarmac for 14 days, exposed to Kerala’s harsh monsoon and sweltering heat. Despite its advanced engineering and billion-dollar price tag, the jet remains grounded, awaiting a specialised team of engineers from Lockheed Martin, the American company behind its design.

IANS inputs