`Mastaken`Identity & Muffled talk

Since the Bessy (Eliots beach road) reopened for walkers, I have started meeting a lot of friends with the mandatory masks on. While it is nice to meet old friends whom you have not seen for over 10 months, this article is about how masks have put me in embarrassing situations because of `mastaken identity`.

This particular incident happened a month ago.  Among the walking friends whom I bump into regularly is a couple who are the parents of my grandson`s friend in USA. It so happened that the grand parents of my grandson`s friend had visited my home a week before. On that particular day I stopped the couple and enquired with the lady with her mask on about her parents. She hummed & hawed and said they are fine. While I was wondering why she was not responding properly, in walked another lady, almost a look alike who on seeing me said, `Hello Uncle, How are you? I didn`t see you yesterday`

 I was confused. I had assumed that the first lady I had spoken to was the wife of the gentleman because she was walking with him, whereas the lady who recognized me was the actual wife. Looking at my confusion, both the ladies pulled down their masks and had a hearty laugh. It was a case of mistaken nay `mastaken identity`.

There are times when a few other walkers have wished me confusing me for someone else.  Or others who recognize me in spite of my mask but I cannot place them. One day I stopped a gentleman, who was wishing me every day but I could not recognize  him. Apologising for interrupting his walk, I sought his identity. Promptly he pulled down his mask, removed his cap and exclaimed, `Enna sar, don`t you recognize me. I have been coming for a walk here for the last ten days`.  Of course now I could recognize him as the gentleman who lived in the fourth house from my house in the same locality. Needless to say that I felt embarrassed.  But how could I recognize people if they look like dacoits who have come to rob a bank?

An enterprising photo studio owner in Kerala found an opportunity to solve the problem of `mastaken` identity. He custom made masks to fit the face of the user, showing the photo image of the face of the user. Brilliant idea! But I think the idea did not catch on because of the high costs!

Another problem is the `muffled talk` resulting from people trying to talk with their masks on. While there is no problem understanding people with clear and loud voices, it becomes difficult to comprehend people with soft or grated voices. When such people find that they are not clear, promptly they pull down their masks and talk, defeating the very purpose of using the masks.

With the second wave of Covid on the horizon masks are here to stay for a long, long time. How we ensure that our identities are not `mastaken` or our voices are not muffled through the masks is going to be an art that all of us will have to learn.

In conclusion I must thank my friend (Sharan) Shankaran for inspiring me to write this piece. It  was from him that I first came to know the words used in the title of this article.