Jayel Aheram as an anthropomorphic cat. Art by my sister Janan.

A long time ago, I was browsing through my blog looking for an excuse to make even more redundant and unnecessary edits to the template. I was trying to brainstorm ideas of what to write about and was suddenly struck at the sheer purpleness of the entire blog (the original version of the blog used to be all purple and did not include Armanth). Yes, my favorite color is purple. Yes, “Aheram” is purple. And yes, the theme and layout is based on my old Purple Hell website. There is no surprise that the blog’s theme is based on my favorite color. There are plenty of web sites that reflect the webmaster’s favorite colors. But I do wonder, how did my favorite color which is reflected in the blog’s theme became purple?

I can remember the time when my favorite color was green, but somewhere along the way, my preference shifted to purple. Green made a lot more sense. It is the color of trees and grass and the outside. When I was a child, I was never allowed to go outside much, so “green” means something special. I loved growing things, green things. Leaves of all shapes and sizes fascinated me. In the city that I lived in as a child, no one wasted precious real estate for things like lawns or trees. Except for the occasional pots of plants or weed or scraggly bushes, I saw very few green things in the endless concrete expanse of the city. In my Catholic school, except for the plants surrounding the beautiful grotto in front of the church, the barest minimum of care was given to the plants that grew in the large concrete pots that dotted the school. Instead of lawns, I saw vacant lots of dirt and brown weeds.

My godmother’s family lived in the provinces, away from the concrete jungle of cities. During those times, all I ever saw were trees, bushes, farms, and a whole lot of green things. And those times with my godmother’s family were special. They were the only times when my sister and I were allowed to get dirty and play with other children. The only times where we played all day. The only times where a shower and a bath became a welcome and sought after luxury.

Dinner in the provinces was a family affair. Everyone ate together in a large table filled with all sorts of food. Steamed rice and plenty of fish meals (my godmother’s family were fishermen) laid out on the table under the mango tree. At night, an incandescent light bulb attached to a long electrical cord and then tied to a low-hanging branch serves as illumination. Candles are sometimes used for when extra light was needed. Green anti-mosquito coils were burned to ward off all sorts of insects (including beetles). I remember that at times, I would look at the night sky through the long leaves and branches of the mango tree.

Bath times were fun, too. Since their place lacked plumbing, we were required to pump for the water needed in everything. The pump is located on a concrete platform just right outside the walled and roofed toilet and bathing area. The ground was usually wet (soaked even) and a particular flowering plant grew in profusion on one side of it. They were tall (at least, to a little boy) and served as a single green wall to offer some privacy when bathing. It bloomed fragrant white flowers and always made bath time memorable. I can remember many more instances of my times in the province and each of them included the color green. Green became associated with freedom, independence, happiness, discovery, fun, adventure, and all sorts of positive and happy things.

So, green makes a lot more sense. Blue would be, too. It is the ultimate boy’s color. In a family with two kids who are nearly the same age (less than a year apart) and sometimes see themselves more like twins than anything, when the grownups decide to give gifts or things to my sister and I, they usually have to do it in pairs. I get the blue things and my sister gets the pink things. My Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle lunchboxes came in blue, my sister’s My Little Pony lunchboxes came in pink. Shirts, caps, watches. It always come in pairs. Except for certain toys and underwear and the color of the things we did share, our possessions were nearly identical. I had a blue teddy bear and she got the red teddy bear. It was one of the few things we did not fought about. We were spoiled and we did not feel cheated. Sure, I got my Super Nintendo (blue), but she had a tape player and access to tapes! Most of the things I owned was blue or a shade of it, so it would make a lot more sense for me to have that color as my favorite color. (It makes me wonder if color preferences are learned.)

I owned very few purple things when I was a kid. The only thing I can remember that is purple was a lavender My Little Pony I called “Violet.” It came to me when my sister had two ponies, but I got upset and jealous that I did not get any. I liked horses, too! So, it was decided that I get the smaller purple pony (with short rainbow hair and tail and sticker!) while my sister gets an elegant pink one with long flowing pink hair (my sister called her “Lana”). Unlike my sister’s pony, Violet actually stood. Hers was a struggle to prop up. My pony was a lot sturdier, too, and looked stronger. Violet was smaller than my sister’s Lana as I was smaller than my sister. Besides Violet, I cannot remember anything else purple that I owned.

Somewhere along the way, I decided that purple was favorite. Maybe it had to do with the creation of Aheram, the Wereneko Omnipotent. Before Aheram, I cannot remember having particular obsession with any color. Sure, I had colors I preferred over others (no way I would choose anything pink), but that had more to do with not liking certain colors than with liking anything. I can remember the first time I colored Aheram. He was brown with yellow hair. His hair was based on Quatre Raberba Winner, a character from the Gundam Wing series, and initially, his personality was, too! But somewhere along the way, Aheram’s hair made a transition, from blonde to purple. His personality made a transformation, too, from a peaceful scribe to a warrior, the sword-wielding Avatar of the Earth, Guardian of the Physical Plane, Strength and War Personified! Either Aheram’s hair color changed because I liked purple or my like of purple came to be because of Aheram’s hair.

The time after the creation of Aheram was a whirlwind of lavender, purple, and denial of Barney’s purpleness. I was given a purple GameBoy, my sister gave me a picture of Aheram (pictured left), and soon, there was no question as to what was my favorite color. I became an expert at purple. Too much red, that is beyond violet, baby, that is magenta. Too much blue? Indigo. Purple was what the Romans wore to signify their elite status. Butterflies, I like. Purple butterflies, I really like! Ever heard of Mewtwo? He is the most powerful and controversial of all Pokémons. Oh, and he is purple!

There really was no logical reason for me to like the color. Maybe it is the opposite of a phobia. Instead of an irrational fear, I have an irrational want of purple. Maybe I was already receptive to the color and when I finally felt comfortable liking it, I grew to like it. I also latched on to the symbolism of purple. Purple means courage, elite, independent. When I was in high school, I relished my status as a “unique” (my classmates and friends have tagged me with that description), and a boy having purple as his favorite color was unconventional. These factors and my alter-ego’s color (Aheram) helped shaped this preference for purple. It could have been blue, it was green, but in the end it became purple.