I was reading a magazine when I came across a lovely jacket.

I went to my father and asked, "Baba, please will you buy this jacket for me?"

"Thanyani, do you mean this jacket?" father asked.

"Why do you want this pink jacket?"

He looked worried.

"Baba, I like that jacket because pink is my favourite colour," I replied.

He did not look happy at all.

Father said to me, raising his voice, "Pink is for girls, and you are a boy. Ask for a blue jacket, man!"

I wondered to myself, but why can't I love pink?

Can't boys love pink? Does this also mean that girls can't love blue?

Why is pink for girls and blue for boys?

What I do know, is that pink worries father.

I am a boy who likes pink. I worry my father.

But what is it about pink that upsets him?

Look inside the mouth of the person next to you.

You will see that we are all pink inside.

When father shouts at me, I can see that even his mouth is pink inside!