Keralites, including Shashi Tharoor, are already preparing to celebrate Onam amidst the coronavirus with festive masks, ensuring to keep the disease at bay and netizens are applauding their creativity.
Tharoor, who is a Member of Parliament from the Indian state of Kerala, shared a photo on Twitter with the caption: "Designer masks for Onam: the Malayali plans ahead!!" The post had a picture of cloth face masks with the touch of gold on them.
The Malayalam text on the photo read: “Masks for Onam construction has begun... That's Malayali!"
The Twitter user, Limi Rose Tom, @limirose, who had originally posted the festive Onam face masks replied to Tharoor's post: “I have made this. Done by converting left over material…”
The tweep also shared pictures of the process of making the golden masks.
The type of cloth used to make the masks is usually used to make sarees worn by women in Kerala. The cloth is usually white in colour, with contrasting golden borders.
Tom also replied to Tharoor’s post about her creation: “Though I feel scripturient, at the cost of sounding seemingly rodomontade, will sum up in just ‘thank you sir!’”
Many appreciated Tom's idea.
Tweep @getssinha wrote: "Creativity at its best..."
Onam is a harvest festival celebrated in Kerala, India and falls during the Malayalam calendar month of Chingam, which in the Gregorian calendar overlaps with the months of August and September.