THE RESHAPING OF THE INDIAN MIND A SERIES OF SEMIOTIC STUDIES ON HOW INDIAN MENTALITIES COULD BE ALTERED BY THE CORONA VIRUS EXPERIENCE SUMMARY Dealing with the threat of the Pandemic, theIntroduction Indian Government Hidden Agendas. Fake. Welcomehas to revealed the PRESENTING the a seriesenormous of reports titled The Reshaping power of the Indian Mind . In this The Mukhaota, as an THE Hindi word for Mask is Mukhaota. Other Indian languages have equivalent Semiotic Analysis of series, we will examine the new objects, new behaviours and new concepts object covers the whole words. Mukhaota as a metaphor, based on the object, refers to the second that we are learning as Indians due to the Covid 19 pandemic. face that people put on, in order to hide their true feelings and intentions. Masks, a report that face and it may not be it can wield over the lives of Indians It carries shades of lying, cheating, dissimulation, fake-ness and hidden examines a new concept The Covid 19 pandemic along with the ongoing lockdown to deal with it, are possible to tell the real agendas in its meaning. It is often used in literary allusions and theatre. A being introduced into twin mega-shocks in our peacetime lives. In our living memory, we have person hiding behind it. Tamil TV show uses the metaphor to indicate how the show reveals the hidden Indianacross consciousness all socialnot been put throughclasses, such an experience, atjati a national and global level. We truths. The use of the black & white colour scheme points to the contrast and understanding. are being actively pushed by the full force of the Government to adopt new between the evil side of human nature (black) and the purity, goodness and behaviours and to internalize new concepts. A massive amount of social re- honesty of a transparent face (white). engineering is taking place, with the intent of fighting the virus and coming out affiliations andahead. These religions. reports are one of the outcomes Indians of this social re-engineering. are We use the theories, frameworks and tools of Semiotic analysis to arrive at our being exhorted,insights. Semiotics ordered, is the discipline that rigorouslycompelled studies signs, symbols and narratives (or) representation broadly speaking, for meaning making. and soon, whenThe semiotic studymarkets of Masks is the first in openthe series. In this up,report, we decode what masks now stand for and how that is reshaping the way Indians are interacting with one another and how they make sense of the new world in 3 willColorful Chhau be tribal dance enticed which they and find themselves. attracted into masks of Santal tribes people. The Chhau mask of Purulia Hamsini Shivakumar is registered on the List of Director Geographical Indications. adopting new behavioursLeapfrog Strategy Consulting and ways Charida, Puruli West Bengal A REPORT BY LEAPFROG STRATEGY CONSULTING of living. These new behaviours©2020 LEAPFROG STRATEGY and CONSULTING A REPORT BY LEAPFROG STRATEGY CONSULTING ©2020 LEAPFROG STRATEGY CONSULTING THE CORONA PANDEMIC has been ways of living are being encoded into travel and free movement. These patterns of cognition, the way people a once in 100 years, experience for culture via signs and symbols that experiences call into question many understand and make sense of the all Indians. Not only because every are already apparent. aspects of the world as we knew it, world around them, semiotics is Indian has been affected, they can in terms of its functioning. And for particularly well placed to identify see and know from the media that The new behaviours include hygiene re-learning, adapting and pivoting at the reshaping that is likely to take so many other countries have been and protective behaviours as high speed. Or maybe just waiting place. affected too, particularly the Rich prescribed by WHO and medical it out, for the bad times to pass and World that they aspire to join, viz experts – Mask Wearing, Physical the good times to return. MASKS & THEIR MEANING the USA, UK, Europe, Singapore Distancing, Hand Washing, Hand etc. They can also see that so far, Sanitizing. It also includes new ways The analysis uses the frameworks The first report takes a close look India has got away lightly in terms of working – working from home and tools of Semiotics, the formal at Masks and what they Mean. It of infections and deaths, when via the internet. And closure/denial study of signs, symbols and meaning compares how Indians understood compared to many rich countries, of access to social gatherings of making. As these experiences what masks are, pre-covid and how especially the USA. every kind, as well as restrictions on affect not just behaviour but also they could understand what masks A REPORT BY LEAPFROG STRATEGY CONSULTING ©2020 LEAPFROG STRATEGY CONSULTING are, post-covid, especially in the meaning, expressed via legends and up different semiotic and interpretive SUMMARY areas of hygiene, protection and stories. How Do You Define a Mask possibilities than the previously self-expression. TODAY’S Mask is a Protector or Today’s Mask is a known face covers. a Protection Device. It helps in Protector or a Protection reinforcing popular understanding Device. It is designed to At a more mundane and practical of the fact that infectious diseases can be spread from person to block or protect from person through the air and through Covid Infection. droplets. The nose and mouth What We Knew & Understood Masks level, there are the dupattas and can spread infection. Indians THE MASK now, is primarily of two already know about disease spread through contaminated water and to be, as a Symbol of Protection: handkerchiefs that 2-wheeler riders mosquitoes. They now realize that types. One is the Medical Mask. If not just water and mosquitoes but the air they breathe, when standing use to protect their face from heat next to other people, can also be a at all, people have seen this type of carrier of disease. Masks had their own vocabulary and dust in summer. Mask worn before, it is by dentists in Indian languages (Mukhaota in and by surgeons in hospitals. The Hindi, Mugamoodi in Tamil), the What have we learnt, that governs Woman with a traditional gamusa Medical Mask carries connotations fabricated into a face mask. 4 Guwahati, Assam strongest meaning being that of a our interpretations and our A REPORT BY LEAPFROG STRATEGY CONSULTING ©2020 LEAPFROG STRATEGY CONSULTING of protective efficacy, seriousness, Self-Protective Device anchored conditioned responses to face interpretations, both positive and Mask. Accordingly, the English medical gear and disposability for in deceit. The Mukhaota as an covers and facial protection: negative, because one person in word Mask is written in the scripts superior hygiene. It indicates a object covered the whole face and the interaction cannot see the face of Indian languages. The Tamil possible metric of protective efficacy as a metaphor referred to being When face covers are used by of the other person fully. Face translation is not face cover (muga against respiratory illnesses – deceitful, hiding one’s authentic individuals to protect themselves covers that impact inter-personal moodi) but face armour (muga coughs, colds, sneezing, sniffling, self in order to mislead others. The from the environment, the weather, interaction are much richer in kavacham). throat infections and the like. Mukhaota is a symbol of mistrust in the sun, the act of protecting is a emotions, meaning and symbolism. mutual interaction. There are many matter of individual choice, without THIS NEW MASK is different from other types of facial covers that inter-personal judgment. In this WHAT HAS CHANGED? MukhaotaThe Mask and as other Protection previously protect – the naqaab, the hijab, the usage of self-protection, they remain knownThe new battle faceagainst coversTHE Medical Mask because is one type of mask that people it are only becoming familiar microbes is to be fought with. The Surgical mask fits in along with other PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) that doctors and other medical personnel wear in their battles through science and against contagious diseases in general and the coronal virus in particular. ghoonghat. There are the Masked mundane objects, of practical use First of all, a new type of face cover coversrationality, not througha part of the face – the nose, faith and magic. The Medical Mask carries connotations of protective efficacy, seriousness, Heroes who protect the public (after but of limited conceptual meaning. has been introduced for public mouth and chin.medical gear The and disposability eyes for superior are hygiene. Itvisible indicates a possible metric of protective efficacy against respiratory illnesses – coughs, colds, sneezing, sniffling, throat infections and the like. Hollywood’s Batman and Spiderman). usage. This face cover has been as is largely, theIn terms ofshape colours, the light blue of and whitethe are commonly face. used colours in the medical field. Religio-cultural rituals at a village When face covers are used by labelled in English as The Mask. The Mask, therefore, conceals and level and in the classical arts use full individuals in inter-personal Interestingly, all of the news media reveals at the same time. The face face covering masks of high artistic interaction, viz, vis-à-vis other and government communication of the wearer is partially open and design and rich with symbolic people, face covers evoke richer refers to this new face cover as partially hidden. Therefore, it opens A REPORT BY LEAPFROG STRATEGY CONSULTING ©2020 LEAPFROG STRATEGY CONSULTING A REPORT BY LEAPFROG STRATEGY CONSULTING ©2020 LEAPFROG STRATEGY CONSULTING Mask’s meaning is not anchored on how will this reshape their thinking? Mask Wearing Behaviour: How Compliance Comes About Home-MadeSUMMARY Masks protective efficacy, it can draw into COMPLIANCE is about submitting to the greater power of the group over THE second type of mask is the universal access.