The dress

I remember it was the year 2014. I was working at my office. A friend came running to me. First I thought there is some emergency. But then I saw a mysterious smile on her face. That is when I realised there is nothing serious. She had her wide screen phone in her hands. There was a picture on her screen which she wanted to show me. She showed me the picture and asked me, "Amy what is the colour of this dress?" I look at it and I said, "it looks white and gold".
She immediately smiled and said, "okay so we are a team". Then she move to another colleague of mine and ask him, "what is the dress of this colour?" He said, "it looks blue and black." I was completely in disbelief. I asked my friend, "did you show him another picture?" She denied she had shown him the same picture. How was that possible that he was seeing colours different from what we had seen? What kind of witchcraft was that?
I asked my colleague again, "do you really see blue and black? Or you just want to tease us?" He said to me that blue and black are the colours that he is seeing on that dress and he was not kidding. I look that my friend completely confused. She told me that the entire internet is confused about the colour of this dress.

Really the dress had become the global viral phenomenon. This photo had come from a private account and it quickly became an internet sensation. Some people saw it to be white and gold while others saw it blue and black. Internet was divided. The people were confident of the colours they were seeing and were trying to convince the other group how tgeir perception is correct. That time internet was not as unruly as today, hence there were no online fights that we had witnessed.

The dress was the talk of the town. It had been shared everywhere. This question was asked to everyone. Common people were making videos about it on social media explaining their views. Celebrities were asked this question on the red carpet and they were asked to explain their views. The dress also became a world wide phenomenon and the fuel for a lot of internet memes. The dress itself had become a pop culture moment by that time.

But the discussion did not stop there. Doctors, neuroscientists, and psychiatrist were also brought in to express their opinion. Doctors were explaining that how our perception differs across various groups. How each individual is viewing this object in a different manner. How the brain chemistry has a key role to play in this aspect. How the structure and the health of our eye is deceiving us into seeing the colours that do not exist. The dress not only gained publicity but it had also become a subject for research. Address that did not require any recognition had become a celebrity, an icon.

The discussion around the dress started dropping after a couple of months. After a few months when other internet phenomenon took over "the dress" became a memory. Even today sometimes the dress comes up in internet discussion and again it divides the internet. The dress was one of the first Internet legends that I had witnessed myself. It was worth the hype. Even 12 years after its post occurrence it deserved a place to be written in an article.

I still I am of the opinion that the dress is white and gold in colour. If you feel otherwise do let me know.