The other day, when I stepped into the lift to reach my office which is on the third floor, a reasonably huge man entered the lift along with me.

He looked at me and asked. “Why do you still wear the mask? Is it due to Corona?”

He was not the first one to ask me this question.

I wanted to say, “So that I don’t get to smell your body odour, and I don’t get to inhale your exhaled breath in this compact lift!”

Instead, I replied, “I like to wear it. I feel safer.”

“Oh yes, it always protects us from common cold and dust”, he chipped in.

I felt like asking, “Then why do you ask? And why don’t you wear it?”

Why do people ask me such a question? Is a mask worn only by those who are sick or prone to catching diseases?

In fact, I always wanted to wear a mask even before we were attacked by the deadly virus. But at that time it would have...