Crocodile game!! - VIBGYOR:Violet

This post is part of the Chennai Bloggers Club’s CBC VIBGYOR BLOG TAG where some of us will write a post on the colors of VIBGYOR each day starting 1st of September to the 7th of September.

I have always had confusion in identifying a few stuffs when I was kid. I still carry few of those silly confusions.

For example when people said ‘Tomato’ or ‘Potato’ I used to get confused which one was tomato and which one was potato. When people said ‘MGR’ and ‘Shivaji’ I always got confused between the two. But my biggest confusion was with identifying two colours- Violet and Purple.

The crocodile game:

When we were kids, a game called ‘Crocodile’ was very famous. The game is played with one person as crocodile and the rest of the players as people. The area of the game will be divided into three, horizontally. The center one will be the water area where the crocodile player has to stand. The other two are the land where people can stand without the hindrance of the crocodile. Everyone stands on a single land on one side of the water. The crocodile stands in the water. Everyone sings in chorus-

“Crocodile crocodile what colour do you choose?”

The crocodile will have to say a colour and people must touch that colour and walk to the other side. Those who don’t touch that specified color has to cross the water without getting touched by the crocodile. If the crocodile touches a person crossing water, who isn’t touching the colour mentioned he becomes the next crocodile.

My problem:

I used to love that game and we loved playing it in our terrace. Any colour the crocodile says I manage to find an object with it but never when it is violet or purple.

“Purple?” and I touch something to cross and the crocodile touches me saying its violet.

“Violet?” I touch something to cross and I get out with the crocodile claiming it to be purple.

“What the hell is the difference between violet and purple?” I always break my head. Even now I am not sure which one is purple and which is violet. Am I colour blind? At least to these two colours?

If they are the same colour why do you call it with two different names?

If they are different just by few shades why can’t you call violet as ‘Dark or light purple’ and purple as dark or light violet?

I end the post with this confusion! Someone please explain the difference between the two colours.

-Ignorant girl.