Kannalmozhi Kabilan By Express News Service CHENNAI: Mere days ago, amidst the increasing threat of coronavirus, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways was still diligently at its job. It drafted a notification for issuing driving licences to people with colour blindness, albeit only if it’s not severe or complete. India is finally catching up to its global counterparts on this front, in an effort to make life easier for the colour deficient folk. But things are not that bleak on the paler side of the spectrum it seems. Vision deficiency Rakhil Ramdas certainly thinks so. Life has been relatively normal despite the diagnosis of red-green colour blindness, says the 23-year-old who is pursuing his Master’s in Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. “I do have trouble distinguishing certain colours — green, violet, purple, pink and red. But soon enough you learn to deal with it. People around me have been helpful,” he says. Like many children, his case with colour vision deficiency also came up in school. He managed to push it to high school before his condition started becoming apparent at the chemistry lab. His chemistry teacher was quick to notice that he reported the colours of his tests wrong, despite plain-sight evidence. After the initial nudge, his family took over and laid out the cause. For he wasn’t the only one with the condition. Abhiram Bemmamchery, Rakhil’s cousin, had gotten the same diagnosis years earlier — in class 2. His trouble began in art class, when he used the wrong colours for the national flag and painted the tree with green bark and brown leaves. With a couple of uncles known to have the condition, his mother knew what they were up against. For Aditya Chawla, his red-green colour blindness affects the way he perceives brown too. But life with the condition isn’t all that difficult, only peppered with embarrassing moments, he says. He has trouble shopping for clothes, checking if the geyser light is on or off. Slipping in a factoid that he stumbled upon during his research on the condition, he points out that colour blindness was not eliminated by evolution because it was not fatal or a major impediment to the species. Rakhil’s talks about the time he and Abhiram had to go shopping for a wedding. They picked a shirt because both of them liked the colour but it wasn’t till they were back home and showing it to the family that they realised that they both got the colour wrong. And all of them have been through the what-colour-is-this phase with friends. Coping mechanism Yet, each of them found their own way to cope. For Abhiram, his mother was instrumental with him coming to terms with the condition in the early years. “My mother was of great help. She told my teachers about the condition and that helped in school. For arts class, I used to write the name of the colour of the pencils and take it to school. When I got older, I started being able to talk about it myself — informing teachers, discussing it with friends,” he narrates. Rakhil relied on his friends to get through everyday hiccups. “In school, I would just ask my friends about the colours. Teachers knew that this was where I needed help. I survived through college that way too. I take my friends along for shopping,” he says, adding that this has never been a struggle. Challenging the condition Living in the US where one can get a licence if the colour blindness isn’t severe, Aditya says driving too becomes easier with practice. Traffic lights are in a particular order and it is easy enough to follow, he points out. But that he is now a painter goes to show how little he’s let this deficiency hold him back. “I was never into art or drawing. Picked up painting randomly as a challenge to colour blindness. Colour theory along with feedback from friends and family helped. Now, I’m comfortable with my palette and tubes. Sort of memorised what goes where,” he recounts. Aditya pursues art professionally, while also working as a consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers, US. Putting out another piece of trivia, he points out that Facebook is primarily blue as Mark Zuckerberg is red-green blind and blue is the richest colour in his spectrum.Having performed the vision test for many in the city, at the behest of recruiters, Dr Dhivya Ashok of Agarwal Hospital says that it’s a condition that doesn’t even come up till people show up for a colour vision test mandated for a job. While it may rule out a career in the military, navy or aviation (not in every country and not for every job) it isn’t limiting or debilitating, she says. While x-chrome lenses are available and it does offer better discrimination of colours, it is not something that doctors would recommend, especially where the work is completely dependent on the equipment. The makers of lenses sign them off for use at as young an age as five and it might work a great deal for the rare few with complete or severe colour blindness, but folks like Rakhil have little interest in it. “I was born without the ability to see these colours and it’s fine. I’ve never felt the need to look beyond that,” he says. The silver lining in any colour would still be just that, it seems.

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