THE GREY CLOAK

           

           I think I started wearing the grey cloak from the time I became conscious of the thoughts of people around me. My skin had always been a spectrum of colors. And I think they despised it.Why wouldn't they? All of them were of the same color. All of them had a grayish tinge to their appearance. Acceptance, of course, was more important than an identity. Once i had donned the Gray cloak they embraced me. I felt safe.I was growing up, safely, inside the cloak. The cloak was gradually becoming a part of me. No one knew my reality. The responsibilities and the risks, the adventures and the dreams would come looking for me and would have to return empty-handed.I was indistinguishable from the grey crowd. I was letting them take me to where they all were heading towards- the end of a life that wasn't lived, the life that was only a reflection of regrets. It didn't mattered to me that I wanted to go in the opposite direction and it didn't mattered to them either. I was only hoping that the cloak shouldn't come off.If it did, they would abandon me. My own identity frightened me. I breathed and I thought the exhaled air would let out the secret. But also loved my colors, I didn't want to lose them. I was living merely as an ontological being. And I hated it.

            So I finally let my cloak fall. All of them gave a collective gasp. But I was not ashamed anymore. I felt euphoric and powerful. I looked them in the eyes and I saw mockery in some, respect in some others. None of it mattered to me anymore. I scanned them and I realized that there are some other people in the crowd who are different too. My cloak was obscuring their colors from me. Obviously some of them are still grey and some others are varying shades of the same color. I was finally free and happy.I was ready to take my own journey now. I decided to move ahead on my own path. Being different is not a crime. I've left the grey cloak far behind.

                   And I think all of us start wearing this cloak at some point in our lives. It doesn't matter whether you are 16 or 60, I urge you to let that cloak fall and let the true you taste freedom and happiness.