Life is certainly precious: Pune man gets gold mask, worth almost Rs 3 lakh, to protect himself from coronavirus

Kurhade claims the mask weighs 50 grams. Credit: Reuters

The Covid-19 pandemic has not discouraged fashionistas and fashion-lovers from putting their best foot (or masks!) forward.

Fashion retailers have taken it upon themselves to turn this crisis into an opportunity. Masks with block prints, customised messages and photographs of the users themselves or their favourite icons have already made waves on social media. Businesses and retailers are also trying to use different materials, metals, organic materials that are selling like hot cakes because of their unique, biodegradable and long-lasting qualities.

Among these eccentric masks is one made of solid gold.

Shankar Kurade, a man from Pimpri-Chinchwad in Maharashtra's Pune, got himself a gold mask worth Rs 2.89 lakh. Taking the 'Life is precious' adage almost literally, Kurade says his gold mask is thin and has holes to allow breathing. He also claims the mask weighs 50 grams

"I saw a news on television about a silver mask. I then spoke to my jeweller and ordered a gold mask," he said.

The jeweller delivered the mask, costing Rs 2.89 lakh, in 10 days, the businessman said, adding that he also distributed relief material to the needy people amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

News agency ANI tweeted multiple photos of Shankar Kurade's shining Covid-19 armour, which went viral on social media. Kurade, however, is unsure of the masks' effectiveness.

Earlier, another businessman from Pimpri-Chinchwad Datta Phuge shot to fame in 2012 when got made a shirt of 3.5 kg of gold, worth Rs 1.27 crore, and wore it in public.

Phuge, who was in the business of money-lending and chit-fund, was killed here in 2016 by a group of persons over a suspected monetary dispute.

A former MNS MLA from Pune, Ramesh Wanjale, was also known for his penchant for wearing gold ornaments that earned him the nickname of gold man in the political circles here.

He died of a heart attack in 2011.

India, on Saturday, reported its highest daily spike of 22,771 new coronavirus cases taking the country's Covid-19 tally to 6,48,315 on Saturday, while the death toll rose to 18,655 with 442 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

(With inputs from PTI.)