Melanin : The Unrecognized Beauty In India

“Aree tumhari baccho ko bolo, kuch lagane ki liye apne mu par. Kitna kala rang hai. Rishta kaise ayega?”

If you have a dark skin tone,you can relate to this, don't you?And moreover if you are a woman, well you would have heard these lines from any middle aged Aunty, probably even before you were born.

Indians and dark skin tone -Seems like a Civil War. In a tropical country where it is natural to have brown skin, Indians are obsessed with the idea of white skin tone. What the worst part is it's starts in your family. The moment when a child is born relatives and even parents start comparing about the child's skin color with his/ her siblings,relatives, neighbors and what not. For 80% Indians “My son or daughter must be fair skinned , that is the epitome of beauty.”

So let us look into some of the taboos a person with a dark skin had to face in an Indian society :-

1) Rejection in Marriage
Dark skinned Indians have been getting rejected in Marriage proposals for a long long time. If you come across Matrimonial advertisements,you may have seen that about 90% people want their bride to be fair skinned. “Girl must have fair complexion” is their very first line.

Women with dark skin have been getting rejected in marriage proposals for decades. No matter how qualified she is,how talented she is, if she has a dark skin tone she is bound to get rejected by a man's family.

2) Measuring someone's worthiness by their skin tone.

All of you have come across the Fair and Lovely advertisement in televisions. Where a girl is getting rejected in her job interview because of her dark skin. The moment she applies thefairness cream on her skin and she becomes magically fair, she is immediately accepted by the same company.

So according to the cream makes Fair skin will lead you towards success.

( So guys stop working hard,stop preparing your CVs. Just apply the fairness cream on your face and sit for a job interview. Your interviewer will immediately offer you his position)

3) Dark skin. Must be from a lower background.

Your background is judged by your skin color. “Look how fair he/she is. Must be from a rich background.” You may have a highly cultural,highly rich background but still people will say “Dark skin, must be “originally” from a poor background”

Indians worship Goddess Kali who is said to have a dark skin. They call her Maa and offer their prayers to her as their Mother.So why not accept your dark skinned girl?

Krishna,Ramchandra is said to have a dark complexion in our mythologies. But among all the television adaptations have you ever seen a dark skinned actor being cast in their role?Oh my God, who will accept a dark skinned actor?????? What will the audience think?

4) He is dark skinned,must be a creep.

Not only women but men are also judged across the country for having a darker skin tone.If a man has a dark skin tone, he must be some molester or rapist. “Kitna kala dikhta hai.Zarur chor hoga” ( He is so dark skinned,must be a thief). What is this logic? Their characters are also judged on the basis of skin color.“Sharif aadmi hoga th gora dikhta na, dekh kala hai kitna, zarur gandhi nazar hogi iski” ( If he was a gentleman,he would have been fair. Look how dark he is,must be a creep)

A fair skinned man may be a serial killer,but so what? He is fair.

Inspite of all the stigma regarding dark skin tone some Indian personalities have embraced their skin tone and rose to success. Like Bollywood actress Late Smita Patil. Who had a darker skin tone compared to the actresses who were there in the industry. But her talent gave her National Awards and recognition all over India as one of the finest actors Bollywood has ever seen. She embraced her melanin as a gift from nature.

You must learn to accept what nature has given us. Our skin tone is beautiful the way it is. Your skin tone is a gift from Nature. Embrace it. You are perfect the way you are. Your melanin is your strength.