this is a nice article. its true that indians have bias towards white skin.. like the US has bias towards beautiful people. For all the ppl who think india is free of bias, why do we have fair'n'lovely and other beauty products targetted to get fair and light in color?!
This was by far one of the best stories I have read. It is so true. Brown is beautiful. I found that the majority or our scientists, Doctors, ect. are not white at all. I also think that the Indian culture is great and the people are just unbelievably smart and beautiful. I think they should have more faith in themselves and what they can do as a country. If they put their mind to it and worked together they could do great things!
For me the author looks plain stupid and those who agree with him even more. The reason Mother Teresa is considered great is because of who she is and what she did. There is nothing to hide - it is a fact we have a major population of people below poverty, it is true even today that many people's daily income is around Rs 10. What is wrong - we are working hard to improve that - and we have come a long way in improving it. Now the west considers India its equal, and a force to reckon with. If my fellow countrymen didn't have the much needed self respect we wouldn't have reached so far. About Sonia Gandhi - frankly speaking - it is not for the fascination of her skin that congress people are jumping but purely because she comes from the Gandhi family and for political reasons and the fact that they feel that she got them to win elections.
About fair skinned actors - that is purely Bollywood movies which is filled with Punjabi People who are unfortunately fair skinned. Please look at Southern Film Industry - they are filled with Brown and Dark Skinned Heroes.
And Indians Fascination is not with White or Foriegn - it is with notion of something Foriegn which even West has.
I am surprised that a learned person as the author can think so narrowly. His thoughts remind of typical white metallity wherein India is symobolized with population/poor people/superstition and not selflessness(what greater example than our parents)/simplicity(M.K Gandhi being one of the examples). I would like to remind the learned author that you see what you want to see and not what you can see. confusing .. ok let me explain it. If India has poor people(i don't have any problem admitting it) then it does have also countless examples of these people setting examples for the world. And just for information, not many countries have people who are so open in embracing other cultures, people. Thus what our esteemed author points as a problem is infact not.
I loved the article, Mr Francois. But the irony, that we have to be convinced by a white man that "brown is beautiful", is like a slap on the face. I am sure all these facts would not have created such a stir and hoard of comments had they been posted by an Indian. But who am I to say all this? I live in USA and experience the same complex before whites who are not even as educated as an average Asian. I don't think this will end anytime soon:-(
The artcle is pointless and doesn't serve any purpose other than shooting and running away.
Mother Theresa is respected not because she is white but because of her work which nobody in India was/is ready to do even not Francois. Then why atack her? You dont have any credibility to critiize a genuine personality, one of the best human beings ever, for no reason. To do so either you should belong to that category or should pocess those qualities. You dont have either!
Again, Sonia Ganghi was not selected because she is white. She is a capable leader who can lead the party to victory and respected by majority of indians.
Thank goodness for this article! I remember growing up here in the US and being chastised for my brown skin (doesn't matter that it is not a light brown - anything other than white/pale was considered evil by some ignorant people) by some idiotic members of the student body and, at home by some of the lighter skinned indian cousins and relatives. Never mind that my dark skinned parents gave tens of thousands of dollars, jewelry, cars, etc to these lighter skinned relatives. They liked the dark skinned money and perks but not the actual dark skin. That is another story!
All of the Indians I grew up with are marrying the lightest people of caucasian origin who are the most aryan, most blue eyed and blonde spouses so their offspring will look more European and have better opportunities. (Some are honest enough to mention this in private.) It is rare for American born Indians to marry another Indian. I hope this changes The author makes an excellent point of why Indians place a premium on white skin. There is no good reason but Hindus have no unity in general. That is a fact and will never change. Look how united the Christians and Muslims are within their own communities
