Owing to the grave situation, face masks have taken over as a compulsory accessory in our lives, and something we just can’t afford to miss wearing. But this should not come in the way of any celebration. As Independence Day (August 15) is just round the corner, tricolour masks with innovative patriotic taglines have started garnering attention on social media. Manufacturers and sellers across platforms say that these masks priced between ₹10 and ₹550, have gained instant popularity.
Shohrab Siddiqui who’s promoting such masks on social media with full swing, says, “I’m getting a lot of queries for these. And as the day approaches, we are expecting the sales to be good. People love to flaunt such quirky things in pictures on I-Day.”
Sales are quite up to the mark, says Delhi-based Ankit Takkar who runs a store in east Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar. He has been delivering these masks in the vicinity. “Masks ab compulsory ho gaye hain aur har kisi ko pehnne zaruti hai. Independence Day aa raha hain toh celebration toh hota hi hai. So we thought this was a good idea that’ll help one to be safe, yet look good. It’s a single layer fabric mask. Mostly youngsters are buying and even kids, too. We have N95 Tiranga mask, too,” adds Takkar.
Priya Sardana, from Winkadeal, is based out of Haryana and is delivering tricolour T-shirts with matching masks, across India. These have taglines such as ‘Mera Bharat Mahan’, ‘Happy Independence Day’, and ‘15 August’. Sardana explains, “These are priced at ₹550, and people are showing keen interest in them. Normally there is a good sale as many offices and societies organise events for Independence Day. However, due to the current situation of Covid-19, all those events are not expected, and this could result in less sales this year. Nonetheless, these things cannot affect patriotism of people. Thus, we are still receiving enquiries and many of our customers say that it’s the pride of this day which matters. So even if there is no event, they would love to wear these T-shirts and masks.”
Ravi Raghav, hailing from Faridabad, is delivering tricolour masks across Delhi-NCR and says, “Through these masks, there will be an enthusiasm in people and at this time, people in the country need it. Corona has put everyone in a difficult scenario. On Independence Day, I want everyone to remember that day when our country became independent. The same enthusiasm we had then is needed now to defeat this virus. On this Independence Day, we can all prove that we are one and we can beat any virus together!”