There are many ways we can attune ourselves to moving away from the box we confine ourselves into.
“Have you ever smelt the colour red or tasted a triangle?” This question was asked by a guest lecturer in our class ten years ago and for a moment, we were speechless. We employed our usual weapon of self-defence, laughter, to hide our confusion and ignorance, but it was quite a journey, discovering a very interesting phenomenon in the human body called synaesthesia. Apparently, many of us have this gift (or condition, depending on how you view it) as children and lose it as we grow into adulthood. The lecturer shared many stories and incidents about people who retained this state and even showed us works of artists who created in the state of Synaesthesia.
Synaesthesia, at its simplest level, is a process in the brain where one of our senses is understood or interpreted as if it is received by another sense. So, for example, while seeing boats sailing in sea, you would taste strawberries! Or every time you saw the colour red, you would hear the sound of violins. Neurologists are still discovering more layers to this whole process. There are numerous books and resources available online on this subject. ‘Wednesday is Indigo blue’ by Richard Cytowic explores this subject in detail.
