Colour Talks- I Interviewed Several People And This Is What I Learnt.

Some months ago, I decided to start a section on my website, called 'Colour Talks'. It is a space where I interview people who have gone through struggles, that have shaped them into the person they are today.

It was a very emotional few months to have come across people who have defied the odds and never let life punch them down. The interviews have been kept anonymous, however, at the end of the interview, I asked them to choose a colour they most identified themselves with. These colours are their faces. Through colour talks, I came across issues of sexuality, child sexual abuse and other social issues.

I am attaching some of the interviews that I conducted below with quotes of the interviewees, you may find other interviews on my website, www.ranakmann.com

More info: ranakmann.com

"I have grown a Mogra plant in the backyard of our home. My mother had proposed the idea of planting it. If circumstances around us did not let us have a child and mind you it was our decisions and it was not forced upon us. I think an early pregnancy abortion is a good option than bringing a child into a world of uncertainties. However, everyone grieves in his or her own manner. My mother and I thought we’d give them a chance to survive symbolically and that is what the Mogra plant means to us. Its cathartic."

When I asked her how hard is it to come out as transgender?

Identity changes, visually and also physically, though that depends from person to person. We may embrace our true self on the exterior, altering our appearance but our inner moral fabric and the ability to be kind and loving and the need to be loved doesn’t change. Heart beats the same everywhere, kindness soothes everyone, and similarly acceptance is healing but that will happen when you accept your own self. The day you accept yourself, obstacles will feel like thorns rather than mountains.

A mother and wife who rebuilt her life.

I carry them with me. His wallet is still being used, it is battered but I like to keep it. My daughter’s favourite dress’s button is kept safely inside the wallet.

He is a survivor of child sexual abuse.

'My parents never gave me guidelines about being inappropriately touched or something as important and basic as ‘consent’. The knowledge of knowing what that one word means could have probably been my strength in saying a damn, ‘No’. But then, many parents would never imagine their child being sexually abused and the fault lies in that. We wait for things to happen.'