Now that wearing mask in public places has become the new normal, a resident of Pimpri-Chinchwad of Pune district, Shankar Kurade has got himself a mask made of gold worth Rs 2.89 lakh in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic raging across Maharashtra.
The mask is made of thin gold leaf along with golden threads to tie it and the cost is roughly equivalent to the cost of over 175,000 ordinary disposable masks or more than 700 PPEs in the market.
When asked him about the inspiration behind the gold mask, Kurade said, “I saw a video on social media of a man in Kolhapur wearing a silver mask and then an idea struck me to have a mask of gold. I talked to a goldsmith and he gave me this five and a half pound gold mask in a weekâ€.
He further added that though it had minute holes to breathe and was comfortable to wear, he was unsure if it provided any safety against the deadly virus.
Since childhood, Shankar is very fond of gold ornaments, that is the reason he wears gold rings in all the fingers, gold bracelets on his wrist and huge gold chains around his neck.
