Masked musings

Move over mobile phones and credit cards; now facemasks are number one on my checklist as I unlock my front door to step out into the world. With half the face covered, some may find it socially challenging and irritable but I personally see many benefits in this protocol.

First and foremost it sustains that element of mystery around me that is fast disappearing from my life thanks to the unravelling of all the personal data through the digital world. When I am ‘face masked’ the onlookers might not dismiss me as another plain Jane but make an effort to guess who could this be. I don’t discount the slim chance that I could be mistaken for some interesting famous personality.

Another great advantage of having to wear facemask is that I can get ready to go out in a jiffy. No more applying make-up to hide those wrinkles, the many signatures left by the passing years. Lipsticks have been martyred in the holy fire of Covid-19.

My tired face, unmade face or serious face, which otherwise is considered socially unacceptable, is thoroughly shielded by the face mask. I can only imagine the relief the facemask brings to all the introverts of the world. There is no need for them to make eye contact with anyone because few would recognise them and they, in turn, are not expected to acknowledge anyone they meet.

Face masks are evolving beyond the realm of safety accessories and are being touted as totems. As face masks are going to be around for a long time the colour-coordinating of masks with clothes, hair and footwear seem to be the new norm.

Creativity is certainly flourishing in the facemask market as the wearer gets to make style statements with designer masks. For instance, a bride and her groom in Assam were adorning matching silk handloom facemasks with traditional Assamese motif during their wedding ceremony. It’s certainly a bonus to be reading interesting slogans on the face masks like for example, “Wear the mask or wear the consequences”.

Some may feel that positive emotions like happiness and smile are hidden by masks but the benefit of masking negative emotions outweigh the former. Imagine the things you can hide behind your mask - your rage, disgust and disapproval of life in general or our road conditions in particular.

Finally, my friend believes that she has unmasked the masterminds behind Covid 19. Every member of her household except the dog is logged on to the virtual world all the time. As a result, her home resembles a call centre with ‘Swiggy’ guys ringing the bell intermittently. The ‘zoom fatigue’ is prevalent in the air. Also ‘purell’ is a constant on her supermarket list. She smells a ‘collective corporate conspiracy’ even with her mask on.