Are you fair and lovely? If you are, then clap your hands in glee, because you have the right to live happily ever after whereas, if your skin tone is of a darker hue, then you might as well throw in the towel and hang yourself. OK, I am giving an exaggerated version here, but this is what some of the advertisements would have us believe.

 

I agree that the situation today is far better than earlier, because the dusky skin tone has received a grudging acceptance that was denied it earlier. The key word here is ‘grudging’, though. So many top models have acknowledged that they face color discrimination in the modern times.  As for ordinary people, they do not even question this notion. The fact is that beauty is so often associated with skin color, that it has been internalized by the masses. So, the popularity of fairness creams in India, even today.

 

Isn’t it strange that it our culture is populated with mythological figures like ‘Draupadi’ and ‘Lord Krishna’ who were both supposed to be stunning looking albeit their dark skin? Why then this strange resistance to dusky skinned people? While I was studying for my post graduate degree, one of my professors had come up with an interesting theory to explain our obsession with the fair color.

 

According to him, this color fixation came about as a result of the invasion of the British in India. They became our ‘rulers’ for a considerable period of time and so were seen as being superior. Now, the most striking differentiating factor between them and us was the skin color which became synonymous with the concept of superiority. In other words, we accepted what was hammered into us by them and stick religiously to it even today, inspite of our independence and freedom. What do you think of this?

 

Do you think there is a possibility that if the dark-skinned Africans had ruled us instead of the British for a century or so, we would have been hankering after dark skin? Try and visualize a scene where someone is describing the beauty of a girl’ bahut sundar hai aur kaali bhi hai, aur kya chahiye?’ J

 

The sad thing is that we are so proud of our culture and traditions, and yet we have such superficial and hollow benchmarks as skin color to define beauty.

 

What is really funny is that in an attempt to strike a balance between the sexes (I presume), a new product has been launched called ‘Fair and Handsome’. (I wish they would at least come up with a better advertisement for it. Something that is not as silly as the present one is). Here we are talking about doing away with color discrimination and they come up with something like this. Totally weird!  Wonder what guys think about this new product. I wish something were done to ban these ads as a first step in correcting what is so obviously a wrong perception. Perhaps, that would rectify the situation to some extent.

 

I end my post by hoping like Abraham Lincoln that one day we will be judged not by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character. Hope this dream comes true some time in the future!