Fair and ugly

Indigo is my favorite low cost Indian airline. I like their cute dotted logo, their smart ads  and their elegant and charming air hostesses, all coming straight out of the fantastic movie “Catch me if you can”. The last time I flew with them, I was casually flipping through their glossy inflight magazine when a small article caught my attention: “Miss IndiGo call for entries. Join us and live a glamorous, jet-set lifestyle, wear designer uniform and earn a top-notch salary. Applicants must at least 155cm tall, well-groomed with clear complexion”. Ouch! By mentioning the skin color, Indigo immediately lost 100 brownie points and may soon compete with Go Air for the title of worst airline.

In France, the tanner you look, the healthier you appear, providing you don’t overuse sunbeds and avoid the rust complexion of Valentino (ok, standing next to Anne Hathaway sure does not help).

Cosmetics companies have of course caught the trends and offer a wide range of tanning products. But nothing beats the natural tan valiantly obtained after hours of sunbathing – and abnegation - on an overcrowded beach during the vacations. And the stakes are high! Indeed back in office, what is more delightful than hearing your most competitive colleague (who is jealously eyeing your intense tan lines) complimenting your glowing skin? Priceless!

Putting these mere competitions apart, I grew up in an environment where any reference to the skin color is politically incorrect. In France, you are not allowed to mention the skin color, the religion, or the ethnic group in administrative documents. It is also forbidden in job descriptions or surveys or even police reports. Why? The motherland watches over her citizens like equally-loved children and remains blind to anything that may differentiate them to avoid the threat of communautarism. We are all equal, have the same rights and duties.

So obviously, I don’t understand the fascination of India with fairness. I may indulge in a hearty laugh when I see an ad praising the most useless product I have ever seen: the deodorant for fairer underarms! But after all these years in India, I am hardly tolerating any fairness cream ads, welcoming them with all the disdain I am capable of, armed with a twisted nose, thin lips and of course arched eyebrows. In my opinion, this unhealthy devotion to the pale complexion is a symbol of bigotry. No, despite Hindistan Unilever proclaims, fair is not lovely. It has the ugly shade of racism and intolerance. It lowers the confidence of dark people (funny, but when I first came to India, I could not see any dark or fair Indians, everybody looked the same to me), letting them believe they are worth nothing (on the shaadi market and consequently on any markets).

Let's fight! Comrade, join the revolution and stop buying Hindustan Unilever products (unless they change the far-from-being-lovely name of their cream)! May I suggest an alternative? Why don’t you buy L’Oréal products instead? What? You think it is a partial and chauvinist offer to support a French group? God, no! They may also sell whitening products but their slogan is far better! Always remember, we're worth it.