“Wow man! You are fair!
But you are South Indian right? What cream do you apply to look fair?”
This is what my aunt’s colleague came up and told me at a wedding the other day. For a few minutes I didn’t know how to react? Was that a compliment? Was I supposed to thank her for it or argue on how she could make such a racist comment against South Indians and that too in a public place? Few days later I saw a fairness cream advertisement, which featured a lead college singer who had lost her confidence because of her dark complexion. She gained it back when her friend advised her to use the new advanced fairness cream. Suddenly a question popped up in my mind.
What are these brands trying to prove? How is one’s confidence related to their complexion? The underlying argument is one might have all the caliber to achieve what one desires, but it’s the fair complexion, which will boost your confidence and will take you to your goal. Are these brands trying to prove that “fair” is better than “dark”! But, What is “fair”? What is “dark”?
Have the people of this country forgotten that a colour of a person is hereditary. Moreover, it depends on the amount of heat he or she is exposed to. We people talk about attacks on Indian students in foreign countries on the basis of colour and give huge lectures when asked about our opinion on Racism. A fourth grade student in India is aware about the Mahatma Gandhi train incident where he was pushed out of the first class train compartment in South Africa by the English because he was BLACK. All these incidents are taught to us at a tender age so that we don’t support Racism in any manner.
Then why are these advertisements not banned? What’s sad is that many people actually fall for this, and become a part of the system that we, in theory, want to defeat. These mindless advertisements have created an opinion in the majority of us that the white is superior to black. For example on every matrimonial page one will notice either the groom or the bride’s side asking for a fair complexioned partner!
This is atrocious. How can you choose a life partner on the basis of his complexion?
On this note I would like to ask a question. Why have people not raised their voices against these Racist advertisements? Where are the advertisement regulatory authorities who raise a hue and cry on everything?
We must not forget that a person’s calibre is not to be judged on the basis of his colour. In a country where two main deities of the Hindu Mythology, Lord Shiva and Lord Krishna, Ashoka the great, Mahatma Gandhi and not to forget the Superstar of all times Rajnikanth are dark skinned, it’s hard to believe people still favour the light skinned ones.
Pooja Jayaram
