All things in Nature are in colour with a reason. There are already a thousand hues, and a myriad shades unwinding. Let us delve, how colours impact of living.
A beating heart or a thinking mind must divulge what it perceives, understands, or feels. Communicate one must. Else one may be unable to unbosom oneself, restive, and stressed.
Colour, an effective modality to vent out: However, communication, with known modalities of gestures and words has always been an issue with creative and other people. It is so because both gestures and words have limitations. The less explored is the application of colours to convey thoughts, feelings and emotions that come in myriad shades and hues. Colours speak when gestures and words betray, something Nature does with masterly finesse. In the countryside I recently chanced to witness intriguing yellow flowers with red patches towards the centre and dark violet band along the periphery. It was a miraculously impressive colour pattern mesmerising the eyes. “Colour! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams,” said Paul Gauguin.
Human beings are not destined to lead a drab life engrossed with ratiocinations, value judgements or analytics of what goes around or will, with heads down but to live with ease, spontaneity, relishing each moment. With colour, you stand out and shine. Be colourful. The world needs your prismatic soul, said the media person Amy Leigh Mercree. So, Nature created colours; all in nature is in colours for a purpose. It is colours that imbue our otherwise drab routine with vibrancy and optimism. “Colours are the smiles of Nature,” said Leigh Hunt.
Mystic power of colour: Let the scientists and philosophers argue whether colour is a physical entity defined by the visual effect of light refracting and reflecting due to varied frequency & wavelengths of diverse colours, or just an individual perception, anything in colour makes better sense. Colours also help keep our body, mind, and spirits in healthy mode so that one can live fully. “The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most,” said John Ruskin.
Rich tradition of Rangoli: The 5000-odd years old abstract art tradition of Rangoli of South Indian origin, still popular, is the art of ‘saying it with colours.’ Among believers of any description, colours are widely used apropos to the religious or other occasions. Rangoli is also integral to the inaugural ceremonies of scientific, engineering, cultural meets; followers of different sects have distinctly coloured dress code. The outsides of main entrances are often, if not daily, decorated with Rangoli of various hues made of powdered rice, flower petals, leaves, sand, sugar etc. Coloured designs of Rangoli and other figures represent an array of diverse human sentiments and ratiocinations. The circles of Rangoli symbolise eternity, the dots and small lines depict the hurdles creeping into our lives unawares. The ambience around Rangoli is believed to be charged with energy, ushering in positive vibes, good luck, and keep the negative, evil spirits at bay.
A look at the rainbow in the sky, the Nature’s exquisite colour pattern, made the bard’s heart leap up. Most in our strife-torn world direly await a healing touch. If you could become a rainbow in someone’s cloud, as suggested Maya Angelou, it shall be great, very meaningful life indeed.
The artists and thinkers often comparing the world with a canvas, and life with a box of crayons makes great sense. “With color one obtains an energy that seems to stem from witchcraft” said Henri Matisse, the leading proponent of modern art. Each of us is an energy-pack of enormous possibilities that we rarely understand. In keeping with our destination, and optimally using discretion, we can give a shiny, dull or any colour to our life; it is basically one’s individual choice.
This Holi, ignore for a while the propriety of playing with colours with or without song & dance. And immerse in spontaneous expression of verve, drinking life to the lees, because all moments of life are not for analysis nor a mathematical puzzle to be resolved.
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Unrevised version of this article was published in The Pioneer on 25 March 2024, the Monday with the caption, ‘Life’s palette: Colours to illuminate existence’. Link of online edition of paper: https://www.dailypioneer.com/2024/columnists/life—s-palette–colours-to-illuminate-existence.html
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