Twenty-one-year-old Parul Sharma (name changed), who is currently pursuing an MA in English from a reputable college in Mumbai, first started obsessing over her skin colour when her boyfriend said he was breaking up with her because "her skin was too dark". Unchecked use of over-the-counter fairness creams soon caused her to develop a skin infection, which in turn led to depression. Sharma now suffers from dysmorphophobia — a preoccupation with an imagined defect in one's physical appearance — refuses to leave her room or even go to college. Sharma is not alone. Recently, 1,992 people were surveyed from the city for a first-of-its-kind research paper, which points out how even a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai, is fixated with the idea of being fair-skinned.

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