We may get over our obsession with the colour of skin someday. Until that happens, unscrupulous companies will continue to profit.
It saddens me to think of a time in which I must feel inferior just because of my colour or what I look like. Representation piC/Getty Images
I would have liked to be a fly on the wall at a recent company meeting held by a multi-national behemoth. There must have been a meeting, because the organisation in question issued a press release soon after, declaring their need to absolve themselves from the racism implicit in one of their most popular products. It would no longer be called 'Fair & Lovely', they said, horrified at their own history of exploitation. From now on, it would be 'Glow & Lovely' to show how respectful they were towards people of all colour.
Think about that meeting, if you will, and the overpaid marketing people who must have thought long and hard to come up with that new and improved name. Think about how dim-witted one has to be to make a suggestion like that, and how utterly inane your managers undoubtedly are if they choose to accept it. Think about what these people are being paid, and have been paid for years, with money collected from the rest of us.
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Companies that exploit human insecurities, real or imagined, have always profited. It's what capitalism is all about. It's the kind of sentiment that allows companies to mass-produce T-shirts with the slogan 'Capitalism Sucks' for distribution during a protest against capitalism. It's naive to assume that companies will change any behaviour that has an adverse impact on their bottom lines, but I continue to be appalled by how easily the rest of us accept this blatant racism without question, simply because Fair & Lovely has been around for as long as our parents have.
In related news, Twitter exploded earlier this month with video footage of African students being beaten up at a university. This wasn't the first time, obviously, but was one of the few times it was caught on camera, which is probably why there was outrage for almost a couple of hours. No one from Africa will have anything positive to say about how Indians treat the people from that continent. No one from South India will have anything positive to say about how the people of North India treat them either, for the same reason.
We have accepted racism so completely that it no longer registers. It is a part of our lives, a collective blind spot that allows us to shake our heads when a disturbing incident occurs, then go about our business with the same nonchalance that allows our politicians to lie to us on a daily basis. We don't care because that is who we are. Which is also why 'Glow & Lovely' will continue to raise unholy profits much as it did before the product's name was changed.
Enough has been said and written and talked about how racist Indians are. This becomes even more glaringly obvious when one encounters NRIs abroad because we tend to assume that we are closer to white people than black people, failing to understand that, for white people, everyone who isn't white is black. That inability to accept the colour of our own skin continues to diminish us.
I have no intention of purchasing 'Glow & Lovely' because I have never felt the need to try 'Fair & Lovely' either. It saddens me to think of a time in which I must feel inferior just because of my colour or what I look like. It saddens me more to think of the psychological damage wreaked upon millions of Indians daily, because they or their parents feel the need to fix something about themselves that simply isn't broken.
We probably can't erase the weight of generations pressing down upon us and making us feel that fair skin is more important than dark skin. What we can do, perhaps, is send a stronger message to companies that exploit this poisonous message. They think they can fob off our concerns by replacing 'Fair' with 'Glow', under the assumption that we are all as dim-witted as the MBA graduates they employ. It is only by calling them out repeatedly that they may choose to address what is a very real problem.
It may seem impossible today, but that change will come because the world will not look away from our policies forever. After all, even cigarette lobbies once thought of themselves as invincible, but more adults are kicking the habit than ever before. Companies can and should be able to profit without the need for exploitation. I believe there may still be some hope for the rest of us.
When he isn't ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He tweets @lindsaypereira Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper
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