Wearing masks is as important today as it was in March 2020. Some time back we, from St. Xavier’s University, had organised a programme in which we distributed masks to people who were not wearing one.

Twenty of us, who volunteered for the event, were divided into three groups. The first went to Kathalberia village, which has been adopted by our university, the second went near Rosedale Plaza and the third to Biswa Bangla Gate.

Our team reached the Kathalberia village panchayat office and spoke to the head about our plans. Then we started off, with two professors guiding us. At our chosen site, we found no one was wearing a mask. We were also nervous about coming in close contact with them as they could be carriers of coronavirus and infect us while we were handing them a mask. We also stopped vehicles to reason with maskless passengers who tried to pass the buck.

Our teachers helped us by initiating the process and eventually we got the hang of it. Some passersby took our masks, wore it to take pictures in and took them off right after the photo session was over. They refused to wear them despite repeated requests and rode off without paying any heed to us.

Some people put on the masks and also asked for some more so that they could give them to their family members, which made us feel happy and useful.

It was a day well spent and we hope that people wear masks and take every precaution prescribed by the World Health Organisation to curb the spread of the virus.

The authors are students of the department of Bachelor of Management Studies, St Xavier’s University, New Town