Feature

Atop the Violet Hill

Fariha Ishrat Khandaker

Guess what? Some guy back in England in the 1370s…yes…in the 1370s, when all men robbing the rich wore tights (a fashion trend that is undergoing revival in the present era)…decided that the colour he saw in front of him was going to be verbalized as 'violet'. Now, we know that sounds a bit arrogant to just look at something and pull a Paris Hilton on it; what right did he have to just call the next random combination of sound and vowels that popped in his head. Well, the good thing is there was no copyright back then, so his name shall forever not become a nagging annoyance. But, fairly enough, we did need a name for a colour that is so beautiful that only royalties could associate with it in the beginning. Talk about high-maintenance.

You see, back in the day, velvet was as expensive as getting your own island on the Palm in Dubai. So, only the big shots, namely the kings and queens in all their vain glory, could afford it. Thus, violet has been aptly dubbed as the royal colour. Still today, the descendants of the vanity fairdom, aka United Kingdom, wraps their expensive chocolates in violet for the colour's association with luxury. Well, as much as its fun to negate the effrontery notions of the impudent, violet is definitely one of those rare colours in nature that can instantly stir emotions, good ones mostly. It has the symbolic usage in Hinduism as the representation of the crown charka, which is at the top of the head. Thus, there is the inclination towards it relating to self-knowledge and spiritual awareness. As it is at the top of the visible spectrum of colours, it is referred to as being 'cool', well, literally a cool colour but with all the pun intended. And since being cool means you have a calming effect on others, violet is used to alleviate sleeping difficulties or stress. So, maybe buying that purple lamp you saw the other day, might just be the big investment for this summer. Think about it.

Yet again, not to heighten the apotheosis of this colour, but just knowing as insightful knowledge, violet is used in therapy for possible treatment of problems relating to the crown chakra, which mainly includes Depression, Parkinson's disease, Schizophrenia, Epilepsy, Senile dementia, Alzheimer's, many mental disorders, confusion, dizziness, and maybe even issue of waking up with a muzzy head. Therefore, just like the lamp you needed to add in you must-to-do shopping list, you could turn your inner sanctum in perfect accordance to your spirit, with just a splatter of purple or violet (whichever shade you prefer more). So, even though violet in one way or the other, entails its core characteristics; vanity isn't always all that bad, if there is a good balance with the spirit and intuition all of which is entwined in this seemingly elegant shade.

Picture source: deviantart.com