Indore: Like all festivals and events, this year, courtesy the pandemic… August 15 celebrations will take a major hit. Nevertheless people are seen at traffic joints selling table top tricolours and badges.
This year, due to the Covid-19 outbreak and strict safety protocols in place prohibiting social gathering, apparently till now no flag hoisting events/programmes have been announced so far. And the viral attack on the humanity has impacted heavily on the sales of merchandise related to the Independence Day.
Shopkeeper, Abhishek Pahadiya, said every year in Indore the turnover of selling I-Day merchandise runs up to anything close to Rs 30 lakh. He said that every year he minted a handsome profit but this year the figures are abysmal.
However, it has always been struggle for existence and survival of the fittest. And the tough gets going when the situation is tough. As a result, flag and merchandise manufacturers are not just wearing nationalism on their sleeves but on their masks.
WHAT TO GET
“This year, there’s a plethora to choose from. We have developed tricolor, jai jawan and Ashoka Chakra masks,” said Pahadiya.
He also said, “you can also choose masks with proverbial quotes embossed on them like ‘Maa Tujhe Salam’, ‘I Love My India’, ‘Stay Home…Jai Hind…Stay safe’ and other such slogans.
MASK PRICE
Masks are more costly than flags as they have been made from a special material to save people from the onslaught of pollution and the Covid menace and the bonus is to feel patriotic. The price of masks ranges from Rs 20 to Rs 80.
FP View: In the ongoing scenario, there’s no quality check for masks being made in mass scale by one and one. In the wake of the Covid scenario, masks are being made freely and marketed like never before. Even as the government expressed its concern over the use of N-95 mask, ordinary Rs 20 masks have flooded the market throwing safety norms to the wind. Actually, masks have become a part of the style statement of people. It is good to see people wearing masks and following the safety protocol, but something should be done to quality check these products too.
