At 10 years old, Farooq Ahmed was diagnosed with lymphoma. He was too young to put all his feelings into words, so he let color do the speaking for him. In his world, yellow was laughter, red meant bravery, and green felt like healing.

When Farooq picked up his brush in the hospital art room, he couldn’t pick just one shade. His mandala dances between colors like a story told by someone still learning the language of grief and hope. The rainbow hues pulse through delicate, repeating rings, each one a soft declaration that no feeling was too small to be seen.

Farooq didn’t hide from fear or sadness. He gave each emotion a color, a pattern, a place in his little circle of hope. And that honesty, quiet and unassuming, became his greatest strength.