Skin Deep

"People think of all colors except the absence of color. Black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony"

Flipping channels on the ridiculously boring idiot box,I can't help but notice the ever growing number of fairness product commercials.Statistically speaking these are played more than hundred times in a day.The question is why are these commercials growing so alarmingly? Why is there so much supply and marketing done for these products. Well the only sane reason I can think of as a commerce student is the need. Simple economics says that the more the demand the more is the supply and the more the competition, more are the ways to beat it.The point here is why is there so much of demand for them in a brown skinned country?
I've heard many Indians complain about racist comments being passed against them by the so called 'white skinned people' but frankly I've never come across any.The only racism I've witnessed was hosted by my very own brown skinned people.The time when every other child in the world was taking moral lessons from the famous fairy tale "snow white", Indians seemed to be wedged on the "as white as snow" page.And as far fetched this may seem I guess we are still trapped on the same page.
Being born with a natural wheatish complexion in a community of "fair skinned" Brahmins,there were times when I was always made to feel like an outcast.Growing up in a place where the color of my skin decided my abilities,I rebelled my way to success.Now when I look back, all the slurry comments seem rather obtuse. But as a growing self conscious teenager they were like thorns pricking a velvety heart,tearing and leaving scars.For me the tables have turned now.I don't allow such minor things affect me.I feel proud of my skin color and flaunt it with attitude for I like to believe that I am no less than the "fair and beauties".
Whenever I come across these commercials I realise I am not the only one to suffer from discrimination. Infact most Indians I know are obsessed with a "white" skin.I personally feel the light skin ones take the color of their skin in stride to hide their insecurities and deformities.I do not think that applying such chemicals to my face would change my god gifted color and not that I intend to either.I am not against these companies who develop and manufacture such products.They are just tending to the needs of the general public.Neither am I against the celebrities who endorse them because it is their way of bread and butter but I certainly do respect those who say no to such endorsements and are proud to flaunt their natural complexion.I am not in favour of the mindset of an average Indian who feels that white is beautiful.Even after 66 years of independence it pains to see that our country still suffers from the evil of racism.And till such mindset persists we cannot have harmony in the society. 
The mighty force up there has made us all unique in our own ways so then why do we always try to copy and imitate each other?Is it because we haven't really developed from our "monkey instincts"? 

 All in all I can say is racist thoughts and actions say far more about the person they come from than the person they are directed at.

*peace*