Beyond Olive: Decoding the Roots of Our Brand Palette

I have always been drawn to this lovely shade of olive-moss green. While designing the logo, I intuitively leaned into this color—what is referred to as ‘Chanaka Paccha’ in Malayalam—which translates to "cow dung green." The name might not sound immediately appealing, and this isn’t the vibrant green of fresh dung, but rather the muted, earthy tone of its dried-up version used to clean and purify homes (the tharavadus) in generations past.

As a child, I was utterly repulsed by this practice when I first became aware of it. But I remember my father always saying that cow dung is one of the purest things on earth; that sense of soulful sanctity and rootedness stayed with me. To me, this is the color of the earth and the deep forest. It reminds me of freshly ground Mehendi picked from our garden—cool and wet on my palms—waiting for the rich green to transform into a deep red.

There is so much life in this shade. The Chitrasutra, an ancient Indian text on varna (color), ascribes the qualities of love, beauty, and harmony with nature to green. This specific muted shade acts as a bridge between Sattva and Tamas gunas, creating a perfect balance of being grounded and vitality. It possesses a richness and elegance that carries a global appeal of quiet sophistication.