No matter how far I try to escape from Indianism and their obsession with color — similar to the evil queen in the German fairy tale Snow White, who kept asking, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" — it just seems impossible. No one is spared under this radar. Whether it’s a small baby who has just entered the world or an old woman struggling to make ends meet, everyone with a darker skin tone faces criticism at some point.
It all started when I was hardly five years old, at a dance show for Kindergarten students. I was pulled out from the front row by a teacher and made to stand at the back because she wanted fair-skinned girls in the front to please the audience.
When I was a teenager, I wasn’t selected for a fashion show. Instead, because I was creative, I was asked to work backstage prepping the models for the walk. But deep down, I badly wanted to be one of the models.
Relatives, friends, teachers — all kept reminding me that I was dark-skinned and that not much good could be expected for me in life. But I kept fighting against these odds. I pushed their words away and worked harder on the strengths I had. I made sure that whenever I stood in the spotlight, it was for my talents, not for my looks.
This endless cycle of racist comments about complexion doesn’t seem to have stopped, even today, when people boast about how “urbanized” our culture has become.
There’s nothing more pure and beautiful than a baby’s smile, yet I find it ridiculous when people find flaws just because a baby is dark-skinned. How much shallower can people get? Does nobody appreciate anything other than fairness in our society?
It’s high time people stopped being so obsessed with skin color. The beauty industry in India has thrived on this insecurity, making millions selling fairness creams that don’t even make you any fairer.
And this isn't just the story of women — men suffer the same prejudice too.
Advising people seems almost useless because this crazy obsession is so deeply rooted. It’s not going away anytime soon.
But remember: you lose nothing if you are dark-skinned.
Because as we grow older, this skin we are so obsessed with fades into wrinkles — and all that remains is one question:
How human were you?
And how you answer that depends on the side you choose —
the dark side?
Or the humane side?
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