#ColourYourWords: Orange: The color of youth, creativity and healing.

                DISCLAIMER:

This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents in this Story are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and unintentional.

 

Robin was moving slowly, purposely from one bed to another, a bright orange-colored smiling paper-flower in hand, gifting it to each person who slept or sat plonked on the bed, staring into nothingness or who walked around aimlessly often circling themselves indefinitely.

Some were absolutely mum, some kept on mumbling something incoherently to themselves. Some kept on nodding their heads, some kept on smiling suddenly when an incredible idea had hit them. Some kept on revolving around themselves continuously, some kept on speaking to an imaginary friend who was their constant companion 24x7.

Robin knew these signs and symptoms very well, having already been there.

He knew exactly where these guys were right now.

They were in hell. Pure hell!

Where more than their bodies, their minds were suffering, and suffering intolerably, until they reached the edge or the limit of tolerance. And the result was obvious. Some had exploded exponentially, others had withdrawn inside a shell. Though these reactions were often exactly opposite to each other, both were going through the same hell, the same sense of worthlessness, the same feeling of hopelessness.

Offering them orange-colored smiling paper-flowers was the least the Robin could do to rescue them, save them from their 'self-created' dungeons. The next step would be making small talk, the first one being an ice-breaker. Winning their confidence or even establishing a companionship would be the most imperative but Herculean task and everything else would eventually follow. Robin once more looked around the huge asylum where a dozen or more youths were lying sluggishly on their beds or walking around, some aimlessly, some like zombies, and some hurriedly with a fear of missing the last bus or train home.

An area devoted to only youth should conventionally sparkle with enthusiasm, creativity, zeal, and exuberance.

But the scene around him was far from this…….

It was a state of palpable gloom, a sense of all-pervading doom, of listlessness or lifelessness. There was no cheer in the air, only chaos, and commotion at times. There was no excitement in the air, only anger toward society or the others. There was no liveliness, only a certain lusterless attitude, and behavior.

Robin's foundation 'The Orange Foundation for Youth and Creativity' wanted to change just that.

The orange-colored smiling paper-flowers were just the start, used to spread the proverbial 'cheer' in their mundane grey lives.

Robin was in an asylum for bipolar disorder (previously known as 'manic depression') dedicated to the youths only.

All that he saw around him were youths who had the fuel of immense creativity which had been bottled up by the society who were quick to label these 'non-conformists' loosely as 'mad' and dump them or lock them away from the larger diaspora of majority, who behaved and accepted the societal norms, manners, and morals, and considered themselves to be 'normal', and some even 'brilliant'!

Robin knew of the talent boiling inside these youths, talent which was way ahead of their times, the talent which was not understood and not acknowledged because it had promises of breaking the stable social, and economic structure as we currently know it, a talent which had no application in the current scenario……..or if applied, could create total havoc!

It was to channel these hidden treasures, these unfathomable geniuses, this unconventional wisdom that Robin had created in his 'The Orange Foundation for Youth and Creativity'.

He wanted to provide an outlet for their raw ideas whose time has not yet come……

He wanted to be the patient ear for all of their radical thoughts which had the potential to create a new world.

He wanted to make them believe that he believed in them, in their ideas and concepts, no matter how outrageous or terrifying or revolutionary they are.

He wanted to give them the confidence that he trusted them and their thoughts and dreams and visuals, however stupefying and rationality-defying they may sound now.

Interacting with them, winning their confidence was the first difficult task.

Extracting their mad geniuses would be the next.

For that he had given them a diary, called the 'Orange Diary' to pen down any random, irrational, irrelevant thought that they might come across, to bring it out, and to 'get over with it'. For he knew that if such thoughts remained for too much time inside, these thoughts would end up troubling the host all the more. Blurting it out would unburden a huge load off their heart and it was then that the healing process would truly start!

The third step would be the interactive session, again rightly called the 'Orange Session for the inspiring youth', held every Tuesday and Thursday mornings, where the inmates of the Psychiatric Ward, were made to open up and dwell deep inside their troubled minds by Robin and his small team of volunteers. Voicing out their fears or dreams, thoughts, ideas, plans, and processes would be tough for many still feared being laughed at and ridiculed and dismissed as 'lunatics' though, they had all already been pronounced 'lunatics' by eminent Psychiatrists and that is exactly why they had landed up here!

But Robin was amazed to see that they still feared 'public opinion' and the 'majority vote', though Robin knew that the majority never thought as severely or deeply as these people, on most of the subjects.

Robin had also noticed another interesting point. Though they were youths with fresh and fantastic ideas, there was hardly any enthusiasm for their creativity. This group of youth was usually languid, lethargic, haggard, gloomy, never laughing……in sharp contrast to their wonderful youthful age.

It is then that he had picked up the idea of entertaining the 'Orange group' with 'Orange jokes' and so Robin began his session with them as follows:

"How do you know that the humble orange was bullied?" Robin asked.

"Because it was beaten to a pulp" he answered and he could hear a few chuckles in the background. So his 'orange-joke', as he loved calling it, had certainly reached somewhere!

"Do you know what happens when two female oranges get into a nasty fight?" Robin asked again.

"Well, things just get juicier!" he answered instantly and he could see a glimmer of interest in a few more eyes.

And the best one is "Guys, why do you think the orange turned into orange juice?" 

"Because it could not handle the pressure!" 

More laughter followed.

Robin knew that he had created his ground, his base and then he added sympathetically "Well guys, tell you what, you all are no different. You just could not handle the social pressure, so you are the same as oranges. Round and cute and lovable!"

More intense laughter followed.

Robin knew that he had won! Their hearts and their trust!

And now one by one the young lunatic would speak out their dreams and fantasies, their aspirations and ideals………..sometimes believable, sometimes too unbelievable to be true.

Robin also knew that creative people are often eccentric and they constantly require to try out different things according to their creativity. That is the only thing that gives them a high and interests them. Often when something inside them snaps, they become 'socially unstable or unusable' and land up in an asylum. For such highly brilliant, creative youths who are fueled with immense enthusiasm on one day and immense laziness on the other, Robin had created a group where these people (blessed or cursed whichever way you looked at it) with one of the most vibrant and creative brains, are kept busy all the while. Where they are cared for, their thoughts are deemed to be correct, and they are made to feel accepted.

Robin looked at the group seated across him, who he knew were on the long arduous path of 'healing' or 'recovery' and thought how different his life would have been, had someone similar come into his life and pulled him out of his horrid manic depression!