Life Behind Masks: The Many Shades of Hope in the Time of Covid

Indian journalist Sonali Acharjee shares the stories of Indians navigating the first wave of the pandemic in Life Behind Masks: The Many Shades of Hope in the Time of COVID (2021). The collection, divided into three sections—“Love,” “Loss,” and “Duty”—explores the role of hope in healing and resilience, and the strategies people used to maintain it during the hardships of COVID-19. Acharjee uses the barriers in communication created by masking to reflect the difficulty of finding hope, especially when pre-pandemic coping mechanisms such as physical connection and social activity were no longer accessible. “Love” represents the connections that anchored interviewees to hope, while “Loss” addresses the challenge of facing the pandemic in isolation. In “Duty,” Acharjee highlights how a sense of responsibility to communities, loved ones, and the nation motivated many to endure the pandemic’s harsh conditions. She includes testimonies from people across various social strata, from millionaires to impoverished migrant workers, and notes that her work was guided by three key concerns: the safety of participants and herself, her privilege in relation to those she interviewed, and the duty she owed to those who entrusted her with their stories.