Vi'neelam'. While watching the nature through windowpanes of aeroplane, C V Raman found that sea and rivers are blue in colour. Many others, too, might have made similar observation before Raman, but the latter did not stop there, but went ahead to find out why colourless water appears blue. His discovery led to a new scientific revelation called “Raman Effect.”

Raman, thus, became Sir C V Raman and the first Indian scientist to get the prestigious Nobel Prize.

Interstingly, mothers knew long back that a water drop is blue in colour. Remember how they cajole their children while singing the lullaby: Don't cry, if you cry, my child, Blue Sapphires fall down from your eyes! Blue colour has a lot of prominence in Indian way of life. Lord Maha Vishnu and his incarnations of Rama and Krishna were sky-blue in their body complexion! Blue, it is said, drives away fear. Legend has it that Savithri, wife of Satyavantha, was wearing a blue colour saree, when she was daring Yama to get back her husband’s life.

Blue also symbolizes freedom and broad thinking. Those who want to be different from others mostly like blue dress and surroundings. Blue Jay has a colourful plumage and its blue colour shades are a feast to the eye. People consider it auspicious to see blue jay on Vijayadasami. By the way, blue jay the official bird of Andhra Pradesh. When it flies in the sky, its colourful plumage looks like moving landscapes! Such colours, used in interior decoration, will really give wings to our thoughts!

Courtesy : Punna krishna Murthy, Founding editor delightnews.com