Face-to-face with new harsh truths

BENGALURU: The ‘novel’ coronavirus is bringing with it a whole lot of novelties, including, of course, phrases such as the ‘new normal’. New crises have been rearing heads every day, with such a suctioning force that few of us have had the calm to assess and accept the change we are seeing all around us. From lack of ventilators for patients to scarcity of food for migrant workers, the pandemic has brushed the thick layer of dust off the government policies, revealing gaping loopholes made larger by general apathy and misplaced optimism. 

Whether it is the fear around taking public transport or the changes in the education system and work culture, our old daily routines are being sandpapered, and veneered with strange realities like 6-ft gaps. You no longer just ‘grab the mobile, wallet and house keys’, and step out to buy groceries; you remember to pick up the sanitiser and mask too. The latter, I feel, is the biggest realisation that has driven home the gravity of the situation staring us in the face. Look at any image shot outdoors anywhere in India, and one striking commonality is that almost everyone is seen with the face covered, a practice perhaps made easier by how much we still use unstitched fabric like the gamchha, dupatta or even the sari pallu.  

Masks, for that matter, may soon emerge as the newest accessory that ‘tells a lot about a person’. Psychoanalysts may use it to study your personality, based on how often you fidget with it, or how high on your nose bridge you wear it, which may, after all, show hidden complexities like how much of yourself do you want to reveal. It may soon be something you spend hours deliberating over before going on a date (red or black?) or job interview (dotted or striped?). It has already begun working as a conversation-starter, and even though it hasn’t yet replaced the weather, it has succeeded in edging it a wee bit to find a place alongside – ‘too hot to wear a mask at this time of the day, no?’. 

And just like any other wearable, masks may soon become a constant in style columns, with celebrities having to name their favourite colour and designer. It is already becoming easy to imagine how children may be advised, ‘a person is known by the mask they wear’.

As branded masks enter the market, people have started taking note of what the others are using, with questions like ‘how safe would a mere handkerchief be’ or ‘is a surgical mask really needed for everyday use’ running through minds, depending upon the degree of threat perception, or how much of a social leveller you think clothes can be. 

But then, knowing the Indian ‘everything goes’ psyche, the newfound practice may just wear off with time. The signs are already visible. Just like helmets adorn many bike handles, masks are often seen wrapped only around the chin now.

Or if it’s a bandana, it works brilliantly as a Jackie Shroff-like fashion statement, the knot carelessly dangling down the neck. The other day, I even saw a woman who had her N-95 perched on her head. So is the mask replacing the sunglasses as the quintessential cool accessory? It will, the day Rajinikanth comes up with a trick.