B is for beautiful black

Many among us are being treated for Vitamin D deficiency. Why the deficiency? We don’t go out at all for fear of getting tanned in the sun.

American actor Dwayne Johnson, popularly called 'The Rock' recently ridiculed a famed museum in Paris for 'whitewashing' his statue, misrepresenting his skin colour. The museum created a wax statue of the actor with a lighter skin colour, which is reported to have been fixed now.

Recently, an actor shared her grief with me. A particular director did not show her enough in a film, and she attributed it to her not being 'glamorous'. She meant ‘fair’ when she said 'glamorous'. I immediately praised her beauty, and reminded her that the dark Cleopatra was considered the most beautiful woman in the world. She smiled weakly, not fully convinced. It is not her fault. We are conditioned to believe that being fair is being lovely.

But why are we so conditioned? Science says homosapiens originated in Africa, where only one race existed. And we were all black. Our gods Rama and Krishna are not fair at all. At home, we have a statue of Krishna in jet black granite. It is stunningly beautiful. Not even once did the thought occur to us that it could have been in white marble. Krishna in black is adorable.

It is said emperor Shah Jahan wanted to build a tomb in black for himself on the other side of the Yamuna. The idea captivates one's imagination. Imagine if all we humans had was one colour. We would have blamed nature for its lack of creativity!

There are so many things that are black and beautiful. There is beauty in contrast. The zebra and penguin are examples from nature. Black and white pictures and movies, black slate and white chalk… one could go on about their classic appeal. Black enhances imagination and creativity.

Countless fairness creams advertise that you can become fair by applying them. Stars endorse them too, which in turn influences millions. People talk about stars looking fair because of injections and treatments. It is a mad rush to become fair.

In romantic novels, we see girls falling for tall, dark and handsome men. But in reality? A man not so tall and not so handsome might pass muster but having a dark complexion is still regarded a big drawback.

People often photoshop their pictures to make themselves appear fair; they portray themselves as they are not. In the past, the whites dominated the others, giving them an inferiority complex. It was a crime, a mistake many ‘fair-complexioned’ people regret. But today, if one blames oneself for one’s colour, one is committing a crime against oneself.

In the Mahabharata, Krishna says to Arjuna, “Whatever exists, it is me and in me”. While being compassionate towards one another, one should celebrate one's colour. We know life is beautiful. It is high time we agreed and appreciated that we are beautiful too. Right from childhood, we should be taught that B stands for ‘beautiful black’.

(The author is an actor, singer and social activist)