Red Salute aka Lal Salaam

This post is part of the Chennai Bloggers Club's CBC VIBGYOR BLOG TAG 2 where some of us will write a post on the colours of VIBGYOR each day starting 1st of May to the 7th of May, 2020.

The colour theme for today's post is RED. 

Red brings to my mind, the Left and the pioneers who have led the movement upholding the rights of people, especially the marginalised and the voiceless (read as the ones being silenced!). It is but the vibrant red which has the place of being attached to a cause - that too a most pressing and vocal one that! The fiery attitude, the hot words, the bloody slogans - all worthy of the colour and the movement. Yes! I am talking about the Leftist movement also known as CPI and popular in the states of Bengal and Kerala.




I was introduced to this greetings Lal Salaam while in college. Many of the fellow Malayalees and Bengalis who were passionate about the country and equality, used to greet each other with a chirpy Lal Salaam and many of us who were slowly getting initiated into this whole history of Marxism and Leftist ideology were fascinated with the greeting. But then we weren't members of either of the states, hence we upheld our Dravidian greeting of Vanakkam which was a safe greeting devoid of any ideology or colour. Bland, apolitical and neutral yet a beautiful three-syllable greeting. I'm digressing here.

But when I say people from Kerala and Bengal, don't be mistaken that everyone is so. NO. Only a fraction of the citizens who passionately believe in the cause of the oppressed and the marginalised greeted so. Some people who didn't support the Communist party were also keen to the causes of the people and saw themselves as part of the ongoing struggle. It wasn't a fashion statement for it was loaded with energy, zeal, mission and urgency. You knew that if one uttered the words, they were aware that they were privileged by education, money and a certain standing in the society, yet knew that they were in the battle of the masses.

It has been proven that the red state of Kerala is in the forefront of the present day Covid-19 battle. With the plans, press meets and the immediate actions undertaken by the present government led by Shri. Pinarayi Vijayan, the state has been cohesive in bringing together many brains and ideas to redeem the situation. While naysayers and critics continue harping on the loopholes of the Red party, it is for everyone to see how Kerala has flattened the curve against the virus, having previous experience of tackling the Nipah virus which shook the state in 2018.

Red also denotes the struggles of the Dalits, transgenders, adivasis, and number of voiceless people/communities, where blood has been shed for mere survival in a democratic country. Red unites the people all over the world in spite of numerous internal factions and diverse mindsets.

Red says STOP. The red party also says STOP to the aforementioned struggles.

Stop closing your eyes.
Stop pretending that you are the heir of privilege.
Stop saying, "We don't need reservation."

Lal Salaam.

Image courtesy: 1. Shutterstock 2. Brainpickings.org

Today marks the last day of the #CBCVIBGYORBLOGTAG2. Please do visit the blogs of Kaushik, Clement, Kumutha and Pratip who are also participants of the #CBCVIBGYORBLOGTAG2.

Bleed Blue

This post is part of the Chennai Bloggers Club's CBC VIBGYOR BLOG TAG 2 where some of us will write a post on the colours of VIBGYOR each day starting 1st of May to the 7th of May, 2020.


The colour theme for today's post is Blue. 

Bleed Blue is a popular tagline of cricket fans in India when the team is playing and sometimes this tagline applies for the local IPL matches too when the team Mumbai plays against any other team. I wonder who came up with that tagline because bleeding for me is mostly associated with the menstrual cycle or washing clothes with colours that bleed. Well, the tagline always gives me images of the colour blue just washing off and the players wearing blue get drenched in blue fluids and the ground is slowly turning blue because the players are bleeding blue and finally when it is done, the players' clothes are white because the blue has been washed off and the ground is soggy. The match has been cancelled. So much for 'Bleed Blue.'

But the vivid image that I associate with Blue is the musical blues, which originates in the African-American belts of the US in the 19th century. The music tradition is a lively one and the name means melancholy or sadness. The intensity of slavery and the condition of the blacks in America was depicted in these songs and often these songs became the anthem of Black slavery also falling in the category of 'protest music.' Perhaps that's why we often exclaim, 'I'm feeling blue,' 'Oh if I could drive the blues away!' and connecting the idea of moods and blues, I would often exclaim, "Ah! This time of the month gives me the blues" - a blend of the red flow and blue moods. And the fine result of blending these colours give another vibrant colour - Magenta, which luckily isn't part of Vibgyor!

Blue is also the favourite colour of gender-benders who work for discouraging gender related colours where blue is almost always preferred to signify boys and pink for girls. But I must admit that men look good in blue, be it shirts or denims and sometimes that factor reduces their ilk to blue which further transforms into a stereotype which demands to be followed. 

Well, so much so for the colour Blue. But I won't let you go without a favourite Blues song by B. B. King. 

Please do visit the blogs of Kaushik, Clement, Kumutha and Pratip who are also
participants of the #CBCVIBGYORBLOGTAG2.

Violet hues in the time of Lockdown

This post is part of the Chennai Bloggers Club's CBC VIBGYOR BLOG TAG 2 where
some of us will write a post on the colours of VIBGYOR each day
starting 1st of May to the 7th of May, 2020.

The colour theme for today's post is Violet.

One cannot see the colour violet, I read. No, it's not purple but a different shade of purple. It is confusing for me who always used violet as a synonym for purple. Alas! My professor used to say that there are no synonyms. Coleridge said that first and my professor led me to that. I still believe that there are no synonyms. Every word is distinct and could fit a particular context so yes, violet is NOT purple. I think we are a species who always like to group similarities and tag them/it with a generic word which is often suitable to the context with minuscule degree of difference but then how do others even spot the differences. Instead we stick to the easy way of grouping similar characteristics together like substituting violet for purple.

We do it all the time, we have set words for different aspects of life: Cool, sexy, hot, woke, feminism and so on. We use these these words over and over until we think whether we are limited to these alone. Our vocabulary stunts rather allowed to stunt by us because we don't care to notice. We JUST want to throw our thoughts and words out there - this explains why blogging has taken a back seat for many who were active few years ago. The patience to engage with newer outlooks and perceptions are slowly but definitely disappearing. Some of us seem like the last species of bloggers who are often seen as artifacts who rightfully belong to a bygone era. But then aren't museums and history fascinating? Like the colour Violet which is not purple but like purple liked by many.

I used to know a member in the church named Violet. Her lips were affected by leucoderma. She was called Violet aunty.

Did you see Violet aunty?

Violet aunty was looking for you!

She used to talk fast and loud, forcing herself close to you. Being diminutive, she was oddly funny. She had two daughters who fortunately weren't as colourful, meaning they weren't named after colours. Isn't it a bit funny to imagine South Indian Christians sporting colour and flower names but having personalities quite contrary. Well, don't be harsh on my passing judgement. Violet aunty is no more and we no longer go to that church.

So much so, for violet memories.