From raunchy Bollywood films to the infamous ‘shaadi.com’, everyone seems to praise and aspire for people with lighter skin tones. With Bollywood movies constantly starring the porcelain doll-like, doe-eyed ‘gori chitti’ and big-name actors starring in and boasting about the heroine’s ‘sawla rang’. Innumerable songs about the same, such as ‘Ladki Beautiful’ by Badshaah, ‘Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan’ by Meet Bros and ‘Kala Chashma’ by Amar Arshi, spotlighting stars such as Siddharth Malhotra and Katrina Kaif. It is safe to say that it reflects in Indian society too. Especially wedding sites, with ‘light skin’ and ‘fair’ being the top keywords to look for in partners. Surprisingly, Indian society was not discriminatory on basis on colour in the early vedic period, so what brought this change in the mindset of people, and what makes the ‘sawla rang’ so important?
Throughout Indian Vedic history, deities of darker skin tones were well represented in the religious books of Hindus. These dark-skinned gods and goddesses were coloured a dark blue. Examples of such gods are Krishna, Rama, Vishnu, Mohini, Kali Ma and Draupadi. Where did this all change? The change began with the Aryan Invasion. In the theory that Aryans were the invaders of India at that era, it is stated that they were most likely Caucasian. Therefore, we can see a trend in the skin tones of Indians. The ones living in the north are lighter, with the ones in the south are usually darker, and a complexity of shades lie in the middle. From the Aryan invasion itself, Indians were taught to discriminate against non-Aryans. This manifested in the later Vedic period as a hierarchical and strict caste system, rooted in colourism and untouchability. Initially, the caste system was introduced to provide social class and structure to the society, and castes were assigned on the basis of occupation. Eventually, the caste system became hierarchical and lower castes were given inhumane treatment and little respect in society. Most of these people working in the lower castes had to work in open farms and dirty areas. This is around the time darker complexions began to be associated with impurity or lower caste.
The British can be credited for the further solidification of colourism into Indian culture, while the Mughal period also played a minor role because those with Arabic heritage had lighter skin, despite Akbar’s efforts to unite the nation. The British colonialism introduced the concept of ‘white supremacy’, not only in India, but even beyond. Dictionarys describe white supremacy as “the belief, theory, or doctrine that white people are inherently superior to people from all other racial and ethnic groups, especially Black people, and are therefore rightfully the dominant group in any society.” It has been observed within black communities that light skins are given more preference than dark skins (such terms are politically correct evidenced by their immense use by many reliable sources). Furthermore, Eurocentric features were more praised than those of the average person of colour. In India, this acted as ghee to the raging fire of prevalent casteism. People wanted to present themselves as ‘white’ as they could, in an attempt to savour the fruits of white supremacy. Lighter skinned Indians were always given preference over darker Indians when it came to employment opportunities during the British Raj. This process ingrained colourism deep into the foundation of modern Indian society.
This scheme of brain-washing Indians for nearly a millennium has made us internalise the liking for lighter skin, and this can only be changed when there is a change in Indian mindset altogether. Changing brand names from ‘Fair&Lovely’ to ‘Glow&Lovely’ is not a big change. At the end of the day, it is still a skin-whitening cream, promoting lighter skin as healthier and cleaner, and still hiring light-skinned models. Real change is accepting our history, taking an initiative to work towards a skin tone positive society and acting upon it. We can stop colourism in our daily life, all we have to do is think twice.
Bibliography:
n.a. "Definition of White Supremacy | Dictionary.com." Dictionary. n.d. Web. 20 Nov, 2022. <www.dictionary.com/browse/white-supremacy>
Islam, Muhammad Rakibul. "Did Colourism Always Exist in the Indian Subcontinent?" The Daily Star. 5 Jan, 2019. Web. 20 Nov, 2022. <www.thedailystar.net/opinion/perspective/news/did-colourism-always-exist-the-indian-subcontinent-1683064>
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