Blue Mysteries

Blue mysteries
By Rajbir Deswal
One of the recognised astrologers of the country proclaimed that blue would be the colour of the new millennium. After hearing this, my mind was all set to explore the blue world.
Why is a woman keenly interested in literary pursuits called a blue-stocking? Why is the blood flowing in the veins of members of royal families called blue? Why is the hard-so-swat big fly termed bluebottle? Why is making an appearance or doing things after long intervals said to be doing so, “once in a blue moon”? Why is a product on celluloid with porn details dubbed a blue film? Why is something untoward labelled as “a bolt from the blue”? Why is a blue ribbon always a mark of distinction? Why does a depressed man look blue? Only an athlete representing his institution can wear a blue scarf or a blue cap. Why? Why is a sea-man called a blue-jacket? Why are hardships and inconvenient things termed blue? Why is a loyal member of a party called “true-blue”?
Why, in business and finance, is a stock that is considered strong and reliable in terms of dividend yield referred to as a blue-chip? And in the computer era, why should a blue-chip control your daily routine? Why is a murderer of children called a “blue-beard”? Why is “blues” the nomenclature given to melancholy lyrics which are tales of woe or unhappy love in African-American music? Why does a blueprint deserve that appellation in making plans before they are executed?
That should be enough, I think. And blue is not only blue. It’s navy-blue, sky-blue, ocean-blue, British-blue, Oxford-blue, Cambridge-blue and so on. If I were to pluck a piece from the sky, it might not be blue, yet it looks blue. Nearer home, in Hindu mythology, Lord Shiva is believed to have swallowed the poison that emerged after the sagar manthan. When the poison reached the throat of Shiva, he retained it there because if it had been gulped down, the Devtas residing in his stomach would have been endangered. Hence, Neelkanth is appellation given to Lord Shiva’s throat, which turned blue as a result of harnessing the deadly poison. And since poison, in all its form, when it effects the human body, turns it to blue, no edible stuff was given this colour by Mother Nature. The fathomless depth of the oceans confirms the profundity of blue.
The vastness of the expanded skies proclaims the infiniteness of blue. The blue-shift in the spectrum exhibits its frequency and intensity in a striking manner. And all that is even described as blue, as we have seen, may not at all be blue. Surely then, here it becomes mystifying. Blue is not the colour to eat. Hence, no blue rasgullas; no blue cheese! Any takers!