COLOR INDIFFERENCE

A very recent article in the local newspaper caught my attention.It was about women in various parts of India who were using the ointment betnovate to lighten their skin color.After reading the article it actually got me thinking about the color indifference that is shown within our country(India) itself.People of the darker skin would do anything to lighten their skin color.Go to any extremes and this was an article that actually proved it.For people in India beautiful is fair.They forget that being dark or fair is not beauty and i wonder who ever told them that dark people cant be beautiful.And this is not just within those in the uneducated category.It even applies to the people who are educated.In the market today there are different skin whitening creams.There are advertisements that are aired showing prospective brides who are rejected because of their colour.There was even an ad that was aired where a young girl wanted to be a cricket commentator and she realises her dreams by using a whitening cream.Wonder what the color had anything to do with being a cricket commentator.Didnt you have to name the game to be one?It naturally has a negative effect on the people watching it and especially if they are on the darker side.And endorsing them are celebrities whose every move is closely followed by the people and they have the utmost effect on the minds of the people.Its shocking to see celebrities like Priyanka Chopra(former Miss World)endorsing such a product.Even in films,if there is a dark person then he is either a beggar or from a poor family.Cant a rich person be dark?Cant the most powerful person be dark?I dont think i need to give examples here to prove my point.My family which includes my father,my mother and my sister are all on the lighter side and i am the odd one out.This never really made any difference to me because my family has never ridiculed me or made me feel inferior because of my color.The day it did have an ill effect on me was when a grand aunt pointed out to me"you look exactly like your father..except for the color..what a pity".Pity???I dont think so but it did get me thinking and i did have my share of whitening creams on my dressing table.Statements like"she is beautiful,she is fair"and "she is beautiful even though she is dark"disturbs me.Why do people believe that dark people cant be beautiful?The latter statement obviously holds my point.

When Indian students in Australia are attacked in the name of racism a hue and cry is made about it and the Government is made to intervene.What is happening in our country is no less than racism itself.But none will accept it.I wonder what steps the Government would take to eradicate the "color indifference"that prevails in our country.