Dear Fair Skin Promoters - Letter to my Body Shamer

Letter to my Body Shamer

Dear Fair Skin Promoters,

I start my letter by forgiving you. I forgive you for all the times you called me 'kala' or 'dark' or 'dirty' in a derogatory and contemptuous way, that pierced my heart and soul. I forgive you for every time you asked me to use skin-lightening creams to "become beautiful" or I won't get marriage proposals, or I won't have friends. In short, I won't be accepted by the society. I forgive you for all the times you cracked jokes at my expense or ridiculed me for my dark skin or asked me if was born dark or was it just "an accident". I forgive you because it wasn't your fault. It was the society's absurd and faulty lens of viewing beauty in standard terms defined by it and branding anyone who broke these as unnatural and abnormal.

How ironic is the fact that the society that promotes fairness as a measurement of beauty, also prays to Lord Krishna, who has been described as 'shyama-varna', one of dark complexion by Lord Hanuman in the Sanskrit Valmiki's Ramayana or in folk poetry as 'ghana-shyama', one who is as dark as the monsoon clouds. When the culture celebrates the dark-skinned, why does the society shun them or try to cover them up?

Looking through history, the fact that jumps at you is that the Colonisers, majorly the British, promoted anything that they did and actions or beings that resembled them as 'civilised'. We were made to swallow this cup of poison that we are inferior because of our dark complexion so many times that we forgot to celebrate our individuality and who we were originally. If we have gained political independence from the Britishers, why do we still allow their age-old policies to bind us in shackles and allow them to divide us based on regressive thoughts?

Once we look at this from a newer and wider perspective, we learn to appreciate the variety and diversity of skin colours, a result of production of different amounts and kinds of melanin. We all have the same blood and the same body structure, so why do we look at others in contempt or hatred just based on their skin colour? This issue gained traction over the past few decades, as more colonies gained independence and became sovereign. A groundbreaking news came when Nyakim Gatwech, a South Sudanese model was widely appreciated for her bold and beautiful stand on embracing oneself inside out. Dubbed "the Queen of the Dark", this wonderful young woman is a role-model for young adults around the world and an epitome of the fact that beauty comes in all shades. She embraced her moonshine dark skin and has earned a large fan following for her ravishing looks.

'Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder' is a saying that we often hear. However, this beauty must not be limited to the physical features. One must also embrace the inner self. In the words of Randi G. Fine, "Outer beauty is a gift. Inner beauty is an accomplishment."

Despite all the problems faced by people like me, I do appreciate the recent efforts of a famous beauty crème to rename their brand as they thought it promoted skin colour shaming. However good their intentions may be, the fact remains unchanged that until we change our  thoughts and mindsets, such superficial changes would not help nor would they bring about any difference.

Optimistically Hopeful,

Shyama - The Dark-Skinned One