Demystifying Colors

Colors, or colours. How-so-ever you wish to spell it, for me, it shall always remain a mesmerizing word. No I’m not color-blind, unlike Mark Zuckerberg or Chris Nolan; I can recognize most shades, though I don’t think I am qualified enough to name them differently. I am also not talking about the documentary ‘Colours’ which was made by the Girls’ Hostel team at last Acumen in my college (Though it was the most celebrated documentary in a short-film competition). Parrot green, bottle green, sea-green or ‘as green as grass,’ I know all of you must be different, but I know you by only two names, light green and dark green. The only green that is different is, perhaps, the color of Aishwarya Rai’s eyes.  Same is the case with the blues; sky-blue is the same as ocean-blue, because if I’m not wrong, it’s the color of sky which reflects in the otherwise colourless water. Although I’d like to be the blue-eyed boy for my boss some day and get that extra zero at the end of my early bonus cheque. But I certainly have a thing against red, especially when the traffic lights blush at seeing me drive. Irresistible is the word they use for me, but Red is also the color of blood, the color of change and I always have the most mixed of feelings whenever I see this color.

I’m colored too. You’re wrong again if you think that I am talking about my much-talked-about dusky complexion, or if you think that I am trying to raise my voice against racism or Apartheid or any social cause, then as much as I would want to, I’m sorry, I’m happy the way I am and I don’t give a fuck to whatever you may think about me. But as seldom as I would care about you, I am concerned how I am to the world when the chips are down.

I am BLACK: Technically, Black is the absence of any color. Unable, at all, to reflect any light. I too am black. Unable to reflect the way you would want me to. Unable to react the way I should. Devoid of emotion? Perhaps, to a great extent, but then it also depends on what you deserve from me. Black is the color of evil. I’m no Lucifer myself, but yes, I am bad. I escape from the truth when it is easy for me to run; I drink and forget when it is not. I lie and I would love to see you fall. But for those who confide in me, come hither and see for yourself, how much light I can absorb. Maybe I’m not black because I have negativity. Maybe it’s just the negativity that I removed from your aura. Ever think of the halo behind your head? Who put it there, and whose responsibility is it, anyway, to keep it clean?

I am GREEN: The color of envy or that of the spring? From a cinematographer’s point of view, green is the color least present in human body, hence the green screens we use. I may not be that eco-friendly that I may be called green, but then again, I am green, even though I’m unable to perform photosynthesis and do not have chlorophyll. Nor am I the Green-Lantern, who’d help you like a superhero. Jealousy, then?  I’m no God, and my flesh and bones are jealous, of you, and the way you get everything you want so easily, yet you crib as to how tough life has been for you. The green-house effect works on me and heats me, but I’m not sure yet how much would it nourish me. I’m unfair, at times, and I let my whims take over, but how often do I not justify it. I may be green, but that only makes me human; and definitely not any lesser, if compared.

I am BLUE: Blue is the color of bliss. Blue, you’re said to be when you’re feeling low. But Blue for us, Indians, is a proper noun as Blue is the color of Team India. Even as they play in Whites, Blue is our blood when team India wins. The coolest of all colors, I’m Blue, both in moments of joy and sorrow, content and loneliness. Blue, I feel, is the color that makes me fluid, Blue is what attracts me to you, Blue is why I trust you, Blue is what makes us one. Blue is the color we should raise a toast to.

I am GREY: An achromatic color in an otherwise poly-chrome world. Grey is the color that describes human nature best. Somewhere between the extremes of black and white, I am Grey too. I’m good and bad at the same time. I half lie and half say the truth in the same breath. I was trusted and deceived, I have been trusted and have deceived, but I am what I am supposed to be. Yes I have been manipulative, but maybe I did it for the best of everyone’s interest. I can be secretive, but that does not mean I am hiding something. Revenge is not what I incrust under and revenge is never what I’ll root for. But I’ll curse you and say a silent prayer for you at the same time.

I am YELLOW: The color of fear, or timidness, at least that’s the way I see it- the weight of the world, the unsure feeling of the light going out, the flickering hope, the disposition of faith. I am yellow and I have the right to be wrong. I turn away when I should stand abreast, I think of myself when the house is on fire, who does not! I value things, more that people sometimes. Hold morals above emotions or succumb to emotions when ethic is all that is required, but I am weak and that is my biggest strength.

I am RED: Red is the color of blood. Red is the color of danger. Red is the color of rage. Red is the color of rebellion. Red is the color of love. The most sparkling of all colors, with the longest of wavelengths, who are we if not red? I may not have the deep voice of Walter White (of Breaking Bad) when I say “I am the danger,” but the colour that is missing from my cheeks, more than makes up for, in by head. I am rebellious and rules are not for me, unless I make them, but try breaking one that I have made and you are in for trouble. Bloodshed is not my thing, but sweat and blood, must be put together. Pink, they say, is another shade of red, and much as I hate the color, an occasional pink strawberry drink, does not make you gay (not that it is a problem if you already are)!

I am WHITE: When Newton observed the colored bands on a whirl wheel, he said that White is the presence of all colors. It’s the color that reflects all light that falls on the. The most ‘adjustable’ color there could be. It becomes one with whatever light you throw at it. White is symbolic of purity, the essence of poetry, the epitome of placidity, the reflector of tranquility. I am white, when I am honest to myself. When I tell myself the truth, pick myself up, dust and run again. White is my positivity, optimism, the gay charm, the truth. I possess all the colors, and that makes me white. I maybe a dull shade of white, but being white, is what matters.

I sometimes wish I could camouflage like a chameleon, and how simple life would be if I could become one with my surroundings, where I can be everywhere, yet no one can find me, unless I want them to. But if I can be so many colors at one time, do I even need to hide?

PS: The above thoughts are just my take on human nature through different colors, the reader is free to agree or disagree. Leave a comment, if you  disagree or vary from my opinion.