True Blue (Neeli Raag) - SAC

Movie screening and discussion director, Swati Dandekar

Indigo is not just a color, it never was... it was wealth, it was mystique, it was colonialism, tyranny and
protest. It made history, but itself fell prey to the events and processes of time, until one day it seemed to
disappear. As the world begins to demand natural dyes once again, it is back in the spot light. Traversing
the verdant monsoon of Tamil Nadu, the earthy expanses of springtime Telangana, and the wintry desert
of Kachchh, True Blue is an attempt to tell the story of indigo as it is practiced in India today.

Interwoven with the narratives of the indigo craftsmen is the color itself in its many moods textures
and forms. How does a green leaf yield blue color? How do the different shades emerge? What is the
chemistry that makes this possible? The processes of indigo are almost magical to behold, as murky
solutions transform into a vibrant blue, bit by bit. This is a blue that deepens, mesmerizes, stains, and
seeps into the skin and nails, indeed the lives of those who craft it.

This screening is sponsored by the South Asia Center, Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Cornell-Syracuse South Asia Consortium, and the OCC South Asia Club.