With the coronavirus pandemic looming, it's no surprise that the virus has also become a pop-culture symbol. A few weeks ago, a French chef started making coronavirus-shaped Easter eggs to stay in times with the season. A chef in Vietnam, too, did something similar as he saw his industry making losses. And now, it's the turn of the sweet shops in Kolkata that have been allowed to stay open to experiment.
Imagine a sandesh shaped like a coronavirus? While it sounds disgusting, it's true. One sweet shop called Hindustan Sweets in Jadavpur has been guilty of this trend. And not surprisingly, it has been extremely popular.
Last week, The West Bengal government had announced that sweet shops can remain open for a duration of four hours during the lockdown period, days after the apex body of sweetmeat outlets flagged concerns over wastage of milk and jobless staff. 60% of the milk consumption is done via sweet shops that use milk to make sandesh and other sweet meats.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had received information that cottage cheese (chhena/paneer) was going to waste after the lockdown and that milkmen were throwing away milk in drains. Some had also written to the Chief Minister’s office requesting the government to buy the milk, as due to lack of funds milk producers were being forced to sell their cattle to slaughter houses or the cows were dying of hunger. This would ultimately result in domestic consumption of milk also being affected.
