The Covid-19 pandemic made masks compulsory for everyone. From becoming a daily necessity to upgrading itself into a fashion statement, here’s all that a mask has been in the year 2020.

Adjusting to the new normal has certainly been difficult for every one in the year that was spent fighting Covid-19 pandemic. But one accessory that not just helped many survive, but has now acquired a character of its own in our day-to-day lives, ie mask, is something that a few are yet to adapting to wearing whereas other consider as a boon to remain guarded from unwanted pollution and social exchanges of smiles. From a daily necessity to a fashion statement, a mask has been all this in 2020, and after having many transitions, is ready to step along with us into 2021. But, before that, here’s a glimpse of the life that most of us lived while being masked!

“I personally chose to use the same kind of mask throughout. Many people had different masks for different purposes — one for work, one for the markets, one for low key formal events. In this time, there was also sort of an evolution of masks, where we learnt about the pros and cons of surgical masks, cloth masks, and even the fact that we shouldn’t use masks with respirators etcetera. For me, I chose to go with the safer option rather than the fashionable one to suit the occasion,” says Abhir Bhalla, an 18-year-old student of political science and international relations at a Sonipat-based university.