Why Manmohan Singh often wore a blue turban?

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Why did former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh opt for blue turbans often? The mystery of his iconic blue turban was unravelled a few years ago when the Cambridge alumnus Singh revealed that the colour is an homage to his alma mater and serves as a reminder of his memorable days at the prestigious university.

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and Chancellor of Cambridge University, had highlighted the colour of Manmohan Singh's turban as he bestowed upon him a Doctorate of Law in 2006.

Singh had then revealed that light blue was one of his favourites and was often seen on his head. Reflecting on his time at Cambridge, the soft-spoken economist-turned-prime minister reminisced about the nickname his friends gave him: "Blue Turban."

"My memories of my days in Cambridge are deep," Singh had said.

At that time, Singh had also expressed his gratitude to the university and said he was the third Prime Minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi to have studied there.

"My teachers and my peers in Cambridge taught me to be open to argument and to be fearless and lucid in the expression of one's opinions. These virtues and a relentless desire to pursue intellectual truth were inculcated in me at Cambridge," he said.

Manmohan Singh, the architect of India's economic reforms, passed away on Thursday night at Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He was 92.

Singh was born on September 26, 1932, in a village in the Punjab province of undivided India. He completed his Matriculation examinations from the Punjab University in 1948. His academic career took him from Punjab to the University of Cambridge, UK, where he earned a First Class Honours degree in Economics in 1957. He followed this with a D Phil in Economics from Nuffield College at Oxford University in 1962.

(With PTI inputs)