Are we that shallow?

(This particular blog is still being rewritten.. so it is not in its final shape)

Residing in the west, sometimes there is a sore feeling when denied some things that we deserve because of our skin colour. It is a fair doubt, very similar to the doubt I have had in India when I have wondered if some thing that I deserved did not happen so because of my caste or family background. Prejudice is a part of any human society and we all have our preconceived beliefs and notions to blame for it. Once when I shared this with a professor of mine in India, he said that Indians should not feel out of place in the west considering that even "Black" people reside there and Indians should at least be superior to them because (according to him) our skin tone is a little better than theirs. I cannot describe how much I cringed on hearing this. A well-educated man, a professor, from India's top institution, believes that we are better than people who are darker than us in complexion. How can one equate skin tone (which cannot be chosen by the individual) with humanity or skill or intelligence? How can you place a person above another because he/she has lighter skin? Yes, we know that racism has been a part of the social fabric in the west (which is at least being dealt with), but what is the Indian take on racism, in this case, what is our take on skin colour? Do we really believe that lighter skinned people are superior? Do we want all our maidens to be fair? In a country with more than 75% of its people having brown-dark brown complexion, is it right to consider that only 'fair is lovely'?

Recently, I was talking to a friend of mine who was telling me that it was difficult to find a groom for her sister because she was dark skinned. This is not a new or shocking news for any Indian considering the generally accepted norm for a beautiful woman in India is to be light skinned. If you want proof of that fact, look at the actresses in Bollywood. Even in the south, where most people have a slightly darker complexion than the north, Tamil and Telugu cinema boast of their fair skinned maidens. But when you walk through the streets of India, the men and women you would see would look be much darker than any actor you would find in Indian cinema. Heck, even the male actors in the North are fair skinned, which is why many cannot even fathom how a dark skinned Rajnikanth is an icon for Tamil cinema. But this discussion is not about cinema. It is about our mentality. Whom we accept as stars on screen are indirectly a representation of our perception of beauty. Throughout the world, people want to see a slight variation of themselves, probably with higher cheek bones or pouting lips, as their on-screen heroes. But only in India would you find that this expectation includes being light skinned as well.

An American professor of theatre once rightly pointed out after watching the movie, "Bride and Prejudice" as to why the Indians on-screen where of much lighter complexion than any Indian he had ever seen on the university campus (this is a campus of about 2000 Indian students). I did not know if I should tell him that this was our conception of "beauty". Take any newspaper's matrimonial column, for instance. (Sort of the Indian version of a dating service, only it is not dating but a marriage service) Most of the 'brides wanted' ads would ask for a fair skinned bride and the 'grooms wanted' ads would point out that the potential bride is fair skinned as an additional "qualification". What I cannot understand is when did we start giving so much importance to skin colour? Are we all not brown skinned? (Almost all Indians, when compared to the westerners would be considered dark skinned)

When you study the descriptions of Krishna, Parvati and Draupadi in literature, we can see the veneration people had for their dark skins. They are described as having 'shyamala' (or sky) coloured skin which is admired. Yet, when it comes to mortals, we shun the same skin tone. Most boys that I studied with had this fantasy of marrying a fair-skinned maiden (despite their own skin tone) and would call the dark coloured girls ugly. Yes, we do have varying skin tones. People from Kashmir and Karnataka are usually very light skinned, where as people from Tamilnadu are usually darker but, of course, there is a spectrum of colour from very light to very dark skin throughout India. It is impossible to point out a regular pattern and conclude that all Kannadigas/Kashmiris are fair skinned, because they are not.

With a history as ancient as India's, it is not possible to point out the genealogy of an individual and investigate the reason for his/her skin tone. The north has been invaded by the Afghans, the Mongols, the Greek, the Turks, the British, the Portuguese, and the French (to name a few). In the east, we were invaded by the Chinese, Burmese, and so on. Although the south remained a little less prone to foreign invasion, we have still had our share of invaders. So, of course, there is no doubt that there would have been mixed blood and genealogy that affects the way we look. Because of this, anthropologically there is no way to conclude why we look the way we look. But why is that so difficult to accept? Why should we not like the way we look and consider that beautiful? Why should we have a beauty industry that gains 90% of its profits from skin lightening products? Why should a good looking man or woman be considered "ugly" just because he/she is dark skinned, which by the way, is the most common skin tone in the country?

The concept of beauty is skin deep. If skin is such a small entity, why give so much importance to it? In today's non-Utopian world where importance is given to the way you look, why cant we accept ourselves for what we are? We ape the west in so many things, beginning with coke, pizza, rock, heavy metal, jeans, t-shirts to even Gucci and Prada products. We are trying to look like Nicole Kidman while forgetting that we belong to a different race and have different genealogy. It is wonderful that Indians try to embrace different aspects of different cultures, but in that process why should we trample our own? It is difficult to say when this madness began but isn't it time we began to celebrate ourselves in stead of looking up to an unattainable alienated look while spurning our own people? Isn't it time to stop alienating people from the concept of beauty because they look Indian, and isn't it time we made all our men and women feel proud that they are Indian and they look Indian?