I
woke up early today….. but, what a pity!!! It was a day, completely devoid of
colors. Yes! All black and white………..like
a checkerboard. The feeling was as if I
was hit by a speeding train…Head on.
Was
it just me? I wondered. Or was it everyone else, as well, who was experiencing this? I was
not colorblind, not that I was aware of, and not to this extent, anyway. Then, what was it?
I
lived alone - a recent victim of global commercialization- single, a new recruit in a
new city, with practically no friends, and obviously, no friendly neighbor
either. It had just been a month since I
had come to this city. And now even the colors seemed to have abandoned me. The
reds, greens, violets and blues, seemed to have revolted.
My
chores done, I dressed myself up for another hard day at work. As I stepped
outside my flat, I was still dazed. What did I see all around me? There must be
something wrong with me. This must be some medical condition I was suffering
from. I will definitely visit a doctor today, I vowed. Was it for real? I could not
ask a passerby, for fear of being branded, ‘crazy’, or being laughed at. I
realized the full impact of the situation.
Everything
was in shades of black and white. The sky was overcast. The greens around me
had turned grey. The birds which engaged in their routine cacophony were all
blanched. So very gloomy was the scene that I felt lost even amidst an
otherwise romantic weather, sprinkled with a light drizzle. Oh wait! When was
the last time I had experienced ‘romance’? I do not remember. Not, with all the work
around me, and this new job, which was already extracting the last ounce of
‘life’ from me?
As I
stood in front of my flat, I was petrified. Were the hues lost forever? What
will happen now? Will I never witness the glistening cyan of a peacock’s neck
again? Was the pink sunset gone for good? Will the carnations, the violets and
the roses never return to their colorful selves? What will the poet’s pen be
inspired by?
What
will happen to the painter’s easel? Is it of no use anymore? Will the oranges
be ‘orange’ no more? Will the apples be a mere darker shade of grey? Will the
rainbow never appear again? Most importantly, was this happening to me alone,
or were the others around me in a blanched world too?
Suddenly,
a car drove up in front of me, and the windows rolled down. It was my boss, who
was beaming.
“Hi
Tamara”, he said.
“Hi
Sir.”
“Did
you see what happened? Isn’t it amazing?”
“Sir
! do you mean, I am not the only one who cannot see the colors this morning?”
“Oh
! Yes, Tamara. Haven’t you watched the morning news today?"
“I
haven’t had the time to buy a TV yet, sir. It’s just been a month since I have
been here. I am sure you understand.”
“Oh
well, then get in the car, I am sure you’re confused, and a ride to the office
won’t harm you.”
I
was stunned. He was definitely happy today. Quite unlike his usual bitter self.
I
got in the car, beside my boss, as he drove up the road towards our office.
“So,
what is this all about, Sir? Is it a conspiracy?”
“It
is a compromise, young lady.”
“A
compromise?”
“Yes,
young lady. The world leaders along with the leading corporate honchos,
entrepreneurs and eminent scientists of the world have decided to make the
world completely colorless. Today is the first day of their experiment, and in
the subsequent days, we will see a world totally blanched of color.”
“What
!!! What do you mean, Sir?”
“Yes,
Tamara. The world will go black and white. It already has.”
“But
why???”
“Well…because,
it is necessary to strengthen the world economy. Do you have any idea about the
money and time that we waste on colors, or because of colors? What’s the golden
rule of any stable economy or for that matter the corporate world? “Profit” is
the magic word, Tamara. And, the world has decided to do away with whatever is
not directly related to ‘profit’. To put it simply, ‘Whatever does not rake in
money for the enterprise, has to go. Color is not necessary anymore. So, we
simply have to bid it goodbye.”
“But,
this is not an explanation. What about art? What about beauty? What is a world
without colors anyway?"
“It
is all about optimization. No color means, less wastage of time on meaningless
TV shows on color TVs, and little involvement on the internet, which leads to
higher productivity. Besides, now people don’t have to spend hours deciding
which color looks good on them, when it comes to clothing. No color means less
investment on paints. Also, a colorless world means an end to racism.”
“But,
racism is about a state of mind, Sir. It can exist even without colors. This is
no excuse for draining out all colors from the world!!!”
“Hahaha!!!
Tamara, you’re still young. Wait till you get into the grind. There is no place
for anything that isn’t immediately profitable, and color is not. It is as
simple, as that.”
“But,
Sir, color is necessary for life, and there is a life beyond ‘profit’. What
about the movies, the scores of symbolism which depend on color? What about the
blue skies which will never welcome us again, and the green forests where we
will never find peace again? This is not just highly selfish but a self
destructive proposition, altogether. I mean, how could this be?” I hollered at the top of my lungs, and as I
did so, I felt someone jerking me.
As I woke up with a start, I realized it was
my colleague, Sandra, who was sitting beside me. We were in the last row,
amidst a very crucial seminar on ‘World economy and its effects’, which was
being attended by all employees and the senior-most authorities of our
enterprise. Sandra smiled at me
sheepishly. “Dozed off eh? What a boring seminar! I’m sure you’re overworked…”
, she whispered. Embarrassed and still trying to gauge what was happening
around me, I excused myself and made my way to the ladies’ restroom.
As
I stood there washing my face, completely dumbfounded, by the sheer absurdity
of my dream, something struck me. I
realized, I was overworked, indeed. The black and white collage of my dream - the
eerie morning and the colorless world was gone, but had left its footprints in
the sands of my mind and my soul. I decided, I needed a break from this
monotony and needed to get back to my world of colors. I decided to be free.
