Masked

A phone call the previous night from a very close friend warning me to get myself a mask before coming to Mumbai was not taken seriously. Well I did go enquire at some medical shops only to get turned down saying that they don’t have any masks available. Deciding to take a risk at Mumbai I board the flight and off I go.

Arriving at Mumbai I thought that the warning for a mask was just a joke but landing in Mumbai I actually see everyone wearing a mask and moving around or rather milling around doing their work. Stepping out of the airport and on my ride to my aunt’s place I witness more of such people with masks.

The funniest part was that the masks people were wearing were hilarious in itself… there were people with the original mask the one prescribed, the medical one described as a white H1N1 mask with a yellow opening, then there was the regular surgical masks marked by the traditional green color, then there were the white ones, women with their dupattas and the best one yet, people with a handkerchief around their mouths and noses…

I have since asked a dozen people on their take in the matter and it’s pretty interesting to hear that other people too concur with me, “hygiene is good but some people take it to ridiculous levels”. People keep wearing a handkerchief over their faces trying desperately to protect themselves against the deadly H1N1 virus. Every time I see a person with this over his nose and mouth I wonder hasn’t this person realized that the virus’ that plague our country are on steroids and that will just a hanky or a very flimsy surgical mask meant for maximum protection in a sterilized environment offer adequate protection?

Agreed that personal hygiene is something that will keep the virus at bay but the fact that anything goes to the prevention of getting infected is I think a very farfetched idea. Come to think of it people who actually did not exhibit any of the symptoms after a visit to a very well known hospital actually contracted the virus. Make you wonder is it any use to actually worry about the disease, or is it better to actually get along with our lives taking care of ourselves to the best of our abilities and stop worrying. After returning back from Mumbai and subsequently travelling from Coimbatore to Bangalore by bus provided me with another amusing incident. The guy supposed to be sitting next to me got onto the bus without a mask. After sitting down I notice he puts a dirty handkerchief over his face. The funny part was that the guy nodded off to sleep and after 10 minutes into his siesta the hanky comes undone and he is back to his unprotected state.

Well what use is the hanky now? Guess the other guy didn’t think so as he coolly put back the hanky after an hour of sleeping unprotected!

It sure is funny to see a hundred people in your immediate vicinity all masked up and going about their lives hardly ever noticing the huge gap that has formed in their protective masks… Masked, it sure is.