Q1.
I. The poet refers to the shades of green, red, and blue in the poem. Let us read some of the names of different shades of these colours.
Reds: Rusty red, Salmon (saa-mun), Scarlet, Crimson, Blood red, Vermilion (vuh-mil-ion)
Greens: Pine green, India green, Apple green, Jade, Olive, Pistachio (pis-ta-sheo)
Blues: Navy blue, Indigo, Cobalt blue, Denim, Sky blue, Ice blue
Now, discuss in pairs, any two things that you can associate with these colours.
Answer
The eighteen names are printed with colour swatches on page 92. Notice how they are formed — most are named after a thing that has that shade (salmon, pine, apple, jade, olive, pistachio, navy, denim, sky, ice, blood, rust), which is precisely why they are easy to picture and easy to associate.
| Shade | Two things you can associate with it |
|---|---|
| Rusty red | an old iron gate left out in the monsoon; the laterite soil of Kerala and Konkan |
| Salmon | the inside of a ripe papaya; a light cotton sari at a summer wedding |
| Scarlet | the gulmohar in May; the flag on a school sports field |
| Crimson | a rose in December; the deep red of pomegranate seeds |
| Blood red | the flesh of a watermelon; a warning sign or an alarm button |
| Vermilion | sindoor and the tilak at a puja; the orange-red of a fresh marigold |
| Pine green | deodar and pine forests in the hills; a dark school blazer |
| India green | the lower band of the national flag; a paddy field in August |
| Apple green | new mango leaves in spring; a raw guava |
| Jade | still water in a hill stream; a green glass bangle |
| Olive | army uniforms; the dull green of tulsi leaves |
| Pistachio | pista barfi and kulfi; the pale green of tender banana leaf |
| Navy blue | a school uniform skirt or trousers; the sea far from shore |
| Indigo | the dye of Bengal and Bihar’s indigo plantations; the deep blue of a bandhani odhni |
| Cobalt blue | Jaipur blue pottery; the blue of Krishna in a calendar painting |
| Denim | a pair of jeans; a washed-out blue kurta |
| Sky blue | a clear October morning after the rains; a hospital or school shirt |
| Ice blue | a glacier or hailstones; frosted glass on a window |
Two pronunciations the book marks for you: salmon is said “saa-mun” — the l is silent; pistachio is “pis-ta-sheo”, not “pis-ta-chio”; and vermilion is “vuh-mil-ion”. Say each aloud twice.
Why this exercise sits beside this poem: the poem writes “Shades of green, red, and blue” — a single word standing for eighteen. Once you know that green can mean pine, jade, olive or pistachio, you read that line differently: the poet is not naming three colours, she is gesturing at a whole palette, and asking you to fill it in.