Thursday 2 April 2009

Colour, colour which colour?

There's this little girl whom I meet at my gym every day. Well almost every day. There are days when she doesn't wake up on time and there are days when I don't wake up on time. So let's say we meet about four days a week on an average.
Anyway, she might be about eight years old. She's skinny and around four-and-a-half feet tall. I heard her telling the instructor the other day that her mum thinks being four-and-a-half feet tall is terrible for an eight-year-old. And that's what brings her to the gym. So, while the rest of the women (it's an 'only ladies' gym. I think women in Dombs are still very conscious of working out in front of men) sweat it out to lose or add flab, little girl tries growing a few inches taller.
One of these days while I was trying to make sense of parents wanting their children to grow taller than what they can naturally be, little girl diverts my attention towards something I found even more irksome.
"Didi, main itni kaali kyun hoon?" she asks a gym instructor, who has a relatively lighter skin tone.
"Go and ask your parents, why are you asking me?" the gym instructor replies jokingly.
"My mom is very fair. Bahut gori hai. Main kyun aisi hoon?" girls asks.
Gym instructor tries ignoring her volley of questions by telling her that it's important to be tall. Far more important than being fair. She does a good job because little girl gets back to her grow-taller regimen.
Two days later, I hear little girl asking another instructor how to have fairer skin. And that's when it really begins bothering me. Bothering me enough to rob at least two minutes of sleep every night thinking about why little girl is so worried about her colour.
After two nights of thinking, my surmise is she has enough reasons to be fretting.
I am sure the rowdy thugs in her school might have named her kaali naagin or some equivalent of that. Her fair-skinned girl friends might be making her feel ugly. Her teachers might never have chosen her to play a Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty for the school's annual function. Her relatives might have suggested kapuzillion ways for her to grow a shade or two lighter -- drink more milk, try this fairness cream, no, that one's better etc. Her mother and, possibly, father might not be letting her play with other children for fear of little girl growing darker under the sun. Her playmates might be pointing fingers at her, laughing, gossiping and speculating why she can't play along with them -- she is a bad girl, she might have failed in her exams, blah, blah. While little girl might try watching TV to distract herself from the badgering, she would possibly only take notice of all the fair and good-looking women living beautiful lives behind the silver screen.
Phew. Tough life she has. And she is just eight.
Ufff

7 comments:

Right-Wing-Lunatic said...

There is a carefully masked angst in the post. Delightfully put

Ace said...

woo woo wooooo! Hold the train of thoughts for a second. I think eight year old kids are more accepting of peers notwithstanding superficiality like skin color or height. I have to say this, sadly - it is the grown-ups that are prejudiced, and prejudiced to a noxious level. Those matrimonial ads looking for a 'good looking, fair girl', those Fair-n-Lovely commercials - the seeds of racial (yes racial) prejudice have been sown deep into our society for far too long. How ironic that in a tropical country like ours, where the skin color of natives is naturally dark, an eight year old kid is made to feel unworthy because her skin has more melanin.
Any prejudice towards anybody based on their skin color, including questioning a kid or teasing them about their skin color, should be equated to racism and be considered a grave offense, severely punishable by law. There should be such shame associated with the nature of the crime that the offender is nearly ostracized from and looked down upon by civilized society. May all those grooms that seek a 'gori ladki' remain frustrated virgins all their lives.
Great post! Gave me something to yap about in the comment. :D

Gentle Whispers said...

I have never understood the obsession for fair skin most Indians seem to have. The person in question could have pimply, oily, skin covered in blackheads but in their eyes, it'll still be better than having smooth glowing 'dark' skin the colour of melted chocolated.

What's really sad though is that someone so young is actually thinking and wanting to be fair, when all she should be doing is playing with her dolls, going to school and generally having a happy childhood, instead of worrying about how dark she is and how short.

P.S: Do I detect a touch of personal empathy with reference to the shortness :D

Mynie said...

@ #
Thank you.
@ Ace
I agree with everything you say. And it's my pleasure to let you yap!
@ Gentle whispers
It's tough growing up being looked at as an ugly duckling just because you don't have the 'right' shade of skin
P.P.S: How tall are you again?

Gentle Whispers said...

@ Mynie: Taller than you?

Mynie said...

@gentle whispers
By half an inch, may be

Anonymous said...

The tone of this article, me fancy!... Coloured me blue, like it ought to.. cheers!