You are saving lives by wearing a mask, says Satish Kaushik

Veteran actor Satish Kaushik was the chief guest at an event held by designer Manish Tripathi in Mumbai on Tuesday. The designer is on a mission to make the world’s largest mask from khadi, a hand-woven natural fibre cloth. 

Stating that the COVID-19 pandemic still poses a threat to life, Kaushik said, “One needs to remember that by wearing [a] mask you are not only saving yourself but also the ones around you. We all should behave responsibly.” 

Kaushik highlighted how the pandemic has affected the film industry at large. “Apart from [artistes] being out of a job since films were not being released, we have lost so many people from our industry. People couldn’t even attend their funerals because of restrictions. It was very disheartening. We actors have tried in a small way to do things to cheer people by making content that would bring a smile on faces,” he said. 

To make the largest mask, Tripathi’s team has collected fabric from ten Indian states. The Uttar Pradesh Khadi and Village Industries Board (UPKVIB) has handed over two metres of khadi from each of the state's 75 districts. 

The team is aiming to create a mask with an area of over 100 square metres in order to beat the present record of 72.29 square metres. The mask will be inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on 2 January 2021.

“The raw material used for making the mask will subsequently be upcycled to make alternate products with self-help groups which will be provided forward linkage to the market,” said an official statement from the publicist of the event.

Forward linkage is created when investment in a particular project encourages investment in subsequent stages of production.