BENGALURU: The mask, no doubt, has become the most important part of our wardrobe. We look after each of these defensive weapons against the SARS-CoV-2 virus as if our life depends on them, and it does to quite an extent if kept clean and worn properly. But they have played truant under cover of protection, some in humorous ways amid the prevailing gloom. Words and emotions are muffled, and these play a crucial link with our understanding of those around us. It compromises our social mechanism, of understanding and being understood, of mutual vibes, be they good or bad.
You step out of your house and are intercepted by a neighbour who appears to be glaring at you from the eyes just above the top lining of the mask. You wonder why. Some muffled words escape his multi-layered N-95, which don’t actually do justice to your cochlear system to effectively register in your brain. Suddenly, you are in a fix, not knowing how to react to the “stare” and the muffled utterances. Well, you have been tricked.
Had the mask not been on my neighbour’s face, it could have been a brilliant smile, and the ‘sounds’ would probably have been a “good morning” or “have a nice day” or an enquiry about health, family or work - something pleasant. But now, you never know. Smiles remain hidden, expressions remain veiled, and voices become mere sounds without meaning, or worse, even misunderstood.
The other morning a friend called. He is known to be a bit too sentimental. He sounded upset. He had visited a neighbour, an elderly lady, to enquire whether she needed anything as he was headed to the groceries. He said he rang the doorbell, and when she opened, what she said humiliated him, so he returned home upset. “I went to help her, and she was so rude!” he cried.
“What did she say?” I asked him.
“She said ‘Don’t come! I am about to have my breakfast...’”
Having known the lady, and quite sure she may not have meant what she was supposed to have said, I
called her and politely enquired about the incident.
“I don’t know...I opened the door and I just said ‘Welcome! I am having my breakfast...’ and even before I
could offer him some, he was gone. I tried to call him, but he isn’t answering my calls...”
So I asked her the milliondollar question: “Were you wearing a mask when you said that?” The reply was in the affirmative. Being a senior citizen and living alone, she always wears one before answering a doorbell. The mask had muffled a “welcome” into a “don’t come”, and left the rest to my friend’s sentimentalities!
Another incident, another friend: This one went to the bank and had forgotten to wear a mask. The security guard rushed to him and firmly said he cannot enter without wearing one. There was a time when had my friend entered the bank with a mask on, the same security guard would have responded with his double-barrel gun pointed at him!
We have come to such a point where not wearing masks would let the microscopic invaders get the upper hand, playing havoc with your respiratory, nervous and gastrointestinal systems. No humour in that. Billions can vouch for that.
In this war - it can be justifiably described as that - every individual needs to be a fortress, the mask being the prime one, vaccination or not. So, instead of cribbing over having to wear a mask, let’s find some humour in doing so, and stay protected. Jim Carey would agree! I would prefer the ‘Mask’ he had...