If people weren’t watching, I’d be so much more eccentric. I know it makes me sound weak, but rather than make myself happy and wear a silly hat and say, ‘Oh, I don’t care,’ I actually really don’t feel like getting made fun of. So I put on something boring and navy and go out and try to disappear.

— Anne Hathaway

I have wondered often what it might feel like to be crazy. The fleeting touch with reality, the haphazard bursts of thoughts, actions, repercussions. But one thing I have never thought in association with that — how people around perceive this situation. In movies, you often see crazies locked up in padded rooms, sedated, away from ‘normal’ people. You also see them walking amok, carefree, totally unbothered and untouched by everything around them. But most of these conveniently make the madman the center of attention, as if it is their story. 

The other story, the one where there’s more than one aspect involved, is usually sidelined. The persons — who for a while see the mentally challenged, and move on, inconsiderate. Or they stay rooted to the spot, unsure of what is wrong with what they are seeing. What if, that little glance at the ‘abnormal’ was to influence them in a way that changed their lives. 

I have been thinking about it since the day I had dreamed of “The People In The Rooms”. It’s hard to truly grasp a meaning behind dreams, but since that dream had such clearly distinct scenarios all baked into one, it made me think. What if the people who I feel close to actually disappear the moment I turn my gaze away from them. I am quite confident, but then again, you can’t really guess a person’s thoughts, can you? 

There certainly are going to be people, who have really nothing to do with anything in my life, and are engaged in their own little worlds. But would they shun me if I approached them for help? Would I be jealous of them for being ‘normal’ or more normal than me? 

And then there are people — who for whatever reason, would choose to stay, embrace the situation and choose to be the victim. No matter their own issues and problems. 

What I really want to know though — is what happens to the people who choose to interact, who choose to stay. And what happens to people who choose to move on, shun people who are trying hard to be ‘normal’. They must have similar challenges. Do the interactions slide off of their skins, their minds without leaving a trace. Or do they have to go hide later, take a mental scrub and cleanse their heads consciously. 

I really do want to know if the struggle is for the challenged, or are the others challenged by us…