Festive fever is in the air, but is it time to give masks a partying shot?

RAIPUR: With Diwali back with a bang after a vanvas of two years, and Delhi in full revenge party mode, the mask is having an anxious moment. It was just getting used to being stuffed into bags and back pockets as people started to step out when suddenly the party season arrived. Will it now be covered with glittery sequins and flaunted publicly or left behind in a drawer like a shameful secret?
After entering wardrobes in a prosaic blue medical format, masks had watched their 3-ply surgical cousins grow in demand.They came in ikat cottons and block prints and denim ones that were washable, reusable and reversible. Masks complemented brocade borders on saris. Soon masks walked the ramp, with designer piping and frill.
And just when the next generation was expected to grow masks in-vitro, the anti-mask movement slowly began in thickly populated areas.
Masks' initial worries about being worn upside-down and inside-out are now replaced by: 'are we the new dinosaur?' It's a far cry from last year, when masks entered small subdued gatherings self-importantly as perfumes were replaced by sanitisers. People came running back home to retrieve them after having forgotten them. Even the humiliation of having to cover a chin when lips were their Lakshman Rekha is nothing compared to this new wobbly feeling.
While masks are having an existential crisis, spare a thought for their wearers who want to party but are also worried about the cocktail of viruses swirling in the worsening city air. The wise compromise would be to go to a party masked up, but with everyone else there blithely maskless and giving judgemental looks that all but call you a wimp, it's not a viable strategy.
Besides, food and drink is circulated freely at parties, and it's a rare person who can virtuously abstain while all those around you are devouring delectable Diwali delights. Sooner or later, your will power is bound to slip, and so is the mask.
New Covid and flu variants may help the mask make a comeback post-Diwali. But even before that, there could be a possible role for it. Card parties are all the rage right now. And what better way to wear a poker face than to cover it with a mask?