Let’s color the world in shades of peaceful white
Not letting the crimson of blood water our children’s innocent lives
The power of ”white” has never stopped fascinating me. The colour that contains the combination of all the colors of the visible spectrum., making it impartial and inclusive.It helps our minds to be organised and to focus since it is illuminating.
Creating space in designs, it is the reassuring white of a doctor’s coat , untainted and serene .
Strangely varied is the symbolism of White in different parts of the globe . Auspicious for weddings in the West but associated with death and mourning in eastern societies. Literally taking the heat off a hot desert summer in Arabia , it can ruin lives with substance abuse as the deathly ‘Chitta’.
So whether it is the white of a white rooster on the wall ‘Chitta Kukkad banere te ‘or the enveloping white of a picket fence, white rules sway. The powerful, stark glory of the pristine clouds; the effervescence of the gushing foam on the high seas; the glistening sparkle of snow on a sunny day. Who can resist the magnetic, milky innocence of purity or the splendor of honesty?
The allure of a flight of pigeons symbolizing peace and the inviting call of cool white sheets on a summer’s day is irresistible. The greedy lick of a heavenly vanilla white ice cream cone on a seething summer’s day is the stuff dreams are made of. The crisp, officious white of the office goer’s shirt collar heightens rates in marriage markets .
My vote is for the immaculate white of candytuft , flowering in a secluded corner of the garden. This shy’ sweet alyssum ‘, that smiles in white bunches is not alone in its ‘come hither ‘calls. The perfect ivory of jasmine ( motia) and Chameli woo me too.
The ‘moti jaise chamakne waale ‘ white teeth that shine in your mysterious smiles and the
“chitte dand hasno nahi rehnde , te loki bhaire shakk karde”never lose on the popularity chart . The lustrous white of my grandma’s Basra pearl string can be supremely hypnotic.
The Punjabi inside me cannot resist the sumptuous white of hand-churned butter or top of the milk cream that melts seductively on ‘aalloo ke paraathhe” The writer in me gasps at the virginal white of the stark blank page of a notebook, begging to be deflowered . The off white of handloom, linen togas and Kerala saris exude a divinity just as the goddess Isis in her white attire does . White acquires finesse in the mal mal cloth of gossammer thinness or the highly white theatrical interior of rococo in Bavaria. One look at Marie Antoinette’s white ceremonial gown in the iconic painting makes one understand why the plain white cotton dress took over the fashion world. Well, she was executed for reasons that went far beyond her contentious dress that reminded nobility of a chemise.
Symphony in White, No. 1, also known as The White Girl, is a painting by Whistler. The work shows a woman in full figure standing on a wolf skin in front of a white curtain with a white lily in her hand. The colour scheme of the painting is almost entirely white. It speaks to me in rainbow hues, such is the potent aura of white .
Incidentally, I wouldn’t barter my delicately embroidered Lucknowi Chikankaari salwar kurtas for anything in the world.
The shades of North Indian complexions on which paeans are written and sung as ‘tappe ,’ the eternally precious folk songs of Punjab go something like this –
“Ballay ballay ni sara pind vayr pae gaya
Ballay ballay ni sara pind vayr pae gaya
Gora rang na kissi noon rabb de vay
Sara pind vayr pae Gaya “. ( the whole village is after my life because I’m bright skinned and beautiful )
to which the cynics exclaim –
“gora rang dabbiyaan vich vikda ‘! ( fair skin can be bought in tubes )
Trending Now
RHYVERS BEAT September Edition
September 21, 2024
RHYVERS BEAT March Edition
March 19, 2024
