Why I'm wearing blue today

I have just read about the festival at Tul Mul village in Kashmir’s Ganderbal district in the article “Blue is the colour of hope in Kashmir” (The Hindu, May 27, 2015).

The Hindu festival, the Kheer Bhawani, is Kashmir’s largest festival and a holiday for residents. On Tuesday, May 26, under the bed of rose petals that showered the pilgrims at Tul Mul village, the water in the holy spring was described as “a gentle aquamarine blue: the color of hope” heralding the promise of a better future in the region. The colour is of significance – in the troubled 1990s it was “purplish and almost black.” To see blue water is indeed a good sign.

The vision of hope was not only in the water. Muslims operate the shops that sell the puja samagri (food and items of worship) such as kehwa chai (Kashmiri form of tea) and luchi (flat Kashmiri deep fried roti). The article tells of two men – one Hindu (Pandit) and one Muslim – both teachers – who attended the festival. The Muslim teacher has been attending the festival at Tul Mul for the past 40 years. Their bond, said the article, was a “shared past that could lead to a new future.” For the troubled region, blue is the colour of hope in Kashmir.

www.thehindu.com

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