What is my color

As a country we have been fascinated with the color of the skin. I have been amused to suddenly see the plethora of skin whitening products for men and that itself has become a 100 crore market in a short span of time. I remember some time back reading that the usage for the most popular skin whitening cream fair & lovely amongst men was about 20%. Forget women now men also want to look fair. Michael Jacko the psycho is a case in point, cant blame the average Indian male.

This discrimination particularly based on the color of the skin has been rampant across the world. Apartheid – was simply based on the color without any respect to the creed etc. Even in the US blacks have to face discrimination - Barrack Obama is running for the presidency and surely will loose out to the white supremacy when it comes to nomination which incidentally is a rallying point for his presidency. It is probably the worst kind of discrimination. In a country where people are infatuated with the fair skin and caste prejudices run deep – it can be comical to read the matrimonial on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The undue importance in every post for bride wanted - regarding the color of the skin is very striking. I have observed this being prevalent irrespective of the caste, creed and religion particularly in arranged marriages. I had a first hand experience recently when I was asked to the color of a prospective groom by the girl’s parents- whom I had gone to meet for finding the suitability of a match.

According to some historians the whole caste system in India originated based on the color of the skin and a case in point which I remember vividly as pointed out was the upper castes generally are on the fairer side where as the lower caste on the darker side. Though there is no empirical evidence to prove this.