Make room for the gray

Do you like gray? I don’t. It’s such an inconclusive colour, neither black nor white, neither here nor there. . . Grey is… moody. It’s kind of depressing. It possesses not the vibrancy and passion of red. Nor the coolness of blue. Or the cheer of yellow. As opposed to the calm of green.

Yet it’s undeniable there. Something which exists whether we like it or not. As do grey areas in our society. Reality. Red-light districts, bohsias, bohjans, gays, lesbians, affairs, sugar daddies, GROs, fanatics, heretics, Ayah Pin, Mama Ais, drug addicts, etc, etc, etc. They exist, whether we like it or not.

So why the insistence on sanitizing and sterilisation of these very real, though unpalatable, issues? Isn’t the first step to solving a problem is acknowledging that one exists? The bigger a problem is, the longer it will take to solve it. So why do people insist on an instant cure for a terminal disease? Sweep it under the carpet and all is well again. If you can ignore the bulging mound in the middle of your hall, that is…

There is an unfortunate tendency of “clean” and “pure” people to condemn the ‘damned’ - those who have sinned, those who had crossed the line into the dark side. They demand that these people must instantly denounce the demons and return to society. But will someone choose to return to a society who has marginalised and shunned them for their mistakes? It’s basic psychology. They fail to understand that these people did not choose the dark in a heartbeat. Is not darkness the absence of light? So where were the ‘pure’ beings when their kin was in need of light to show them the way?

I was in this conversation with a new group recently. They were lambasting the sins of “Gubra”. Without even watching it, they discussed the sinfulness of the whole production. And I had no choice but to defend the concept of the movie that tried to bring into awareness the grey areas that exist in the background of our sheltered lives. Those who were forced into prostitution had little choice in the matter.

From a totally different perspective, grey lightens the burden of darkness and shades us from the blinding brilliance of whiteness. It has potential to move in either direction. All it needs is incorporation of the healing powers or forces of destruction. It is our choice – to help or to punish. Which one would you make?