If you have ever stepped foot in a chemist in Mumbai or Delhi, you have probably noticed shelves groaning under the weight of “Fairness” creams. It is a bit of a weird obsession for a country where the sun basically lives year round. We are obsessed with skin colour, yet for some reason, the only shade currently winning the popularity contest is “translucent ghost.”
India is a genetic cocktail. You have the original migrants from Africa, travelers from Iran, steppe people from Central Asia, and folks from the Tibetan plateau. It is a beautiful, diverse mix, but somewhere along the line, the “generic brown” look lost its luster. We moved from worshipping black gods to worshipping white men, and it has been a bit of a downward spiral ever since.
The Original Dark Knight
Here is the kicker: ancient India actually loved dark skin. If you look at the old scriptures, the ultimate blessing was a dark skinned son. Lord Vishnu, Rama, and Krishna are all described as “Megha shyamam,” which is a fancy way of saying they looked like a dark thundercloud about to burst.
Even the most beautiful woman in the epics, Draupadi, was very dark skinned. Back then, dark skin was not a source of shame; it was a gift. The caves of Ajanta, filled with murals from the 2nd century BC, show Indians exactly as they were: mostly dark, and perfectly happy about it.
Enter the Haters
So, who ruined the party? We can start with the Turkic and Persian invasions around the 10th century. These guys were light skinned and brought with them a Persian beauty standard that treated dark skin like a bad fashion choice. They associated being “fair” with being a noble and dark skin with being a slave.
Then the Europeans turned up to finish the job. The Portuguese and British did not just steal the spices; they stole India’s self esteem. Missionaries like Francis Xavier literally wrote about how much they detested the “blackness” of Hindus. The British then spent decades categorising everyone by skin tone and nose shape, convincing the local elite that being a “brown Englishman” was the only way to be civilized.
Bollywood and the Filter Era
Fast forward to today, and Bollywood has basically become a factory for light skinned actors. For decades, producers have used enough lighting and makeup to make their stars look like they have never seen the sun in their lives. This has trickled down into the masses, leading to a culture where people genuinely feel inferior because they have a bit of melanin.
Even some of the separatist movements in places like Kashmir or Punjab use their “whiteness” as a reason why they are better than the rest of the country. It is essentially a thousand years of bullying disguised as politics.
Breaking the Mirror
Thankfully, things are starting to shift. There is a new wave of pride sweeping through the subcontinent. People are finally throwing away the fairness creams and realizing that their ancient roots are actually quite cool. We are starting to see dark skinned actors and models actually getting some screen time without being the villain or the comic relief.
India is finally looking in the mirror and not immediately reaching for the bleach. It is a long road back to the “thundercloud” aesthetic of the Vedas, but at least the clouds are starting to form.
Related topics: Asia
