It’s a commonly heard that the actual beauty lies inside. But does this thing hold good in practice too? How many marriageable people would accept a dark complexioned but otherwise eligible person as their partner for life? Hardly anyone. Ironically, India is a country of wheat complexioned people where fair girls stand fairer chance of getting privileges than their dusky counterparts. Parents get a double whammy when they get a baby girl, that too of dusky complexion.

Why are we obsessed with the white skin? Is it in the Indian genes or a colonial hang-over that white skin defines beauty? The market is flooded with the skin whitening creams. Fair & Lovely from HLL is one such brand that has exploited this psyche and has now a massive 53 per cent market share. Star Plus even runs a tele-serial on this very theme: the duskier sister is not getting married and the whole family is in tension!

(from L to R : Noyonika Chatterjee, Carol Gracious and Sheetal Malhar)

Does that mean that not-so-fair people stand no chance of getting success; at least the ad seems to convey this only. A dusky girl comes home like a lost solider, gets a complete makeover by using a fairness cream and wow! She is on the top. Ironically, most of the top Indian models like Sheetal Malhaar, Carol Gracious, Noyonika Chaterjee, Dipanita Sharma, Nina Manuel are dusky beauties. Grooming experts say it’s not just the complexion but the whole personality that counts. I think it is high time we shun all our preconceived notions and stop discriminating with those born with natural darker shades of skin. After all there is lot more to success than the shade of one’s skin.

Please also visit : Hummingwords.blogspot