At a recent Indian function I was requested to attend, I couldn’t help but notice that several of they dark skinned ladies had suddenly become gray. Mystified, I demanded further information on this strange phenomenon and consulted my mother. She explained to me that for many centuries now, the desired Indian skin colour is fair with a hint of pink, and that many of the ‘gray ladies’ I saw where using artifice to gain this desired effect. Thoroughly interested, I could not help but ponder about my own skin colour. I am dark skinned and it amuses me that this trait alone could have me labeled almost un attractive in India, where as here in Australia it one of my most redeeming features.
About 2 years ago, while holidaying in India, I was surprised to see products called “Fair and Lovely” gazing at me through windows of dozens of boutiques and chemists. I was even more surprised to find that young woman do actually rub this concoction into their skin religiously. I thought this to be rather ironic considering in Australia tanning solutions keep flying off the shelves and solariums make an absolute fortune annually. In India you buy foundation to make you fairer, here many woman by foundation to ‘add a bit of colour’. Many Australians even risk getting skin cancer by going out in the sun without protection in the attempt obtain the perfect ‘bronze’, while in India ladies refuse to go out in the warm, midday sun for fear of getting too ‘kali’, however they also risk getting Vitamin E deficiencies. Why is everyone so adamant to accept their own god given skin colour?
A teacher at my school, who is soon getting married, informed me how lucky I was to have dark skin. She told me she is spending an absolute fortune at various tanning salons and yet her skin remains stubbornly white. I smiled and replied smugly that I was lucky enough to possess a year long tan thanks to my inherited genes. And that is exactly what it is. An inherited trait. We have no control over it. India has a hot climate and our skin has adapted adequately, producing more melanin then our European cousins in order to protect us from the searing, sun-burn causing, cancer giving sun. For crying out loud, just accept it!
I find it rather absurd that I left a country with a majority of dark skinned people, obsessed with making themselves fair, and entered a country with a majority of fair skinned people, obsessed with making themselves dark. Sometimes it is very difficult to understand people.