A sizeable section of people view politics as a performance, in which the world is a theatre, politicians are actors – heroes, villains, side-roles and comedians – and the people the audience. It was probably during late Rajiv Gandhi’s time that his campaigners distributed their leader’s masks to whip up the campaign. But it was Modi who used masks during election campaigns in a massive way. But then, while these political leaders made the people were masks, the reality is – masks and politicians are inseparable from each other. Politicians would not be politicians if they no longer wore a facade. Almost every politician wears a mask, though it is not the one they distribute among their supporters. The politician’s mask is invisible. The reality is that politicians wouldn’t be politicians if they took off their masks. And, as someone had made a social media post, politicians wouldn’t even be people if they took off their masks. A sizeable section of other people – if not all – too wears masks. Each and every one of us has worn, currently wears, or will wear a mask at some point in our lives. Yes, politicians wear masks in order to gain public support and sway popular opinion, but so do so many people in other professions. Our society judges us for every comment we make, outfit we wear, and opinion we have. These comments, outfits and opinions constitute masks, and all of us –‘common people’ – who have no idea who we plan to vote for in April 2021 wear masks too. Our motives are not necessarily to deceive others, and honestly, not every politician is a deceiver. But then, in a democracy like ours, where most politicians wear masks, the ‘common people’ know how to unmask a politician, especially those who do the deceiving act. And the most interesting thing is that, while common people generally wear masks for fear of epidemics like Coronavirus, politicians wear them for fear of the common people! No wonder Bhupen Hazarika had once sung – “Porichalakok sudhibor hole/mukhare kiman thogibaa?” (It is time to ask, how long are you going to deceive us wearing those masks?)