Fair

A usual  advertisement in the matrimony classifieds goes like this:

“A reputed business family seeks alliance for their handsome, tall, smart, highly qualified son earning a 6 figure salary with a beautiful, FAIR, tall, slim, educated, talented, cultured girl form a reputed business /professional family with traditional values.”

Whew!

I could never understand the thinking of the people who advertise these things. What do they want for their children? A specially sculptured piece imported from heaven. I always wonder why don’t people write that they want a boy, girl who can share their remaining life with each other. Why do they write all these reputed culture stuff as though they would be getting offers form an ill reputed and non-cultured family if they don’t write it? It is very normal to expect a spouse with no faults but that does not mean you advertise in such a way that people from now on start praying to God to give them a girl/boy with all the best features. I only hope the way of advertising change.

Leaving all the special features aside and coming to the main one i.e., being fair, every family, which tries to find a match for their son, first wants the girl to be beautiful. Here the word beautiful always carries the meaning of being fair. Whenever they say they want a beautiful girl, they mean they want a fair skinned girl. How can beauty be related to being fair?

Most of the times even if the girl is very talented, qualified and good in many other ways, if she is not fair then she does not stand a chance of getting good matches even if the other girl who is more fairer has a waist line enough to compete with a baby elephant. People tend to say that the girl is not fair but never will they say that the girl is talented, sensible etc. To add to this comedy, different companies come out with fairness enhancing creams guaranteeing fairness in 3 weeks. The advertisement showing the girl, when dark skinned, low on confidence and after 3 weeks her confidence levels boost as though she has been administered to a confidence enhancing cream than a fairness improving one.

I feel these creams should be patronised by the Governments’ of countries who have black population as these creams have the ability to put a stop to the racism. If every one becomes fair and white skinned, then there won’t be any chance of making racist comments. UN can emphasise on this aspect.

If a boy or girl is qualified from a country like US or London, then the US qualification will be used to attract more offers. What does US got to do with it? Is it any new qualification? If the girl is both fair US qualified it is considered a deadly combo pack.

Even daily soaps have been started showing the main protagonist to be fair skinned and her sister dark skinned. Eventually the fairer one is admired by the males more than the darker one. The one who admires the dark girl will be a kind hearted guy. How many kind hearted guys are left in this world to marry the not so admired girls . What’s wrong in being dark? It is much better than the darker thoughts of those people who feel being fair is being beautiful. When people can admire dark hair, when people can admire dark movies, when people can admire a small thing like black pen, why can’t they see beauty in being dark? You need not admire but at least do not look down on.

I never thought of using these creams, leave alone spending a penny on them. It is universally known that the Indian women are more inclined towards the fairness concept and it is no wonder that we are finding more and more mother in laws’ pining for ‘beautiful’ bahus* for their respective son’s. You can expect a beautiful girl with fair skin as wife but never expect a girl to be fair to be beautiful.

*Daughter-in-law

Yours Always,