FAIR AND PHONEY

Watch the idiot box for just 15 minutes and you will realize that every third commercial is a cosmetic commercial, wherein every alternate one is about a fairness product. So much so, that we actually have a fairness cream for men now. Whatever happened to tall, dark and handsome?? Not to mention how effeminate it sounds that a guy should be slathering himself with a beauty product.

But I digress. My point is why do all commercials unequivocally portray a Plain Jane ( read under-confident, socially withdrawn, dark skinned girl) who emerges overnight as ravishing, popular and successful (in that order) just by virtue of turning fair?

These commercials are objectionable for two fundamental reasons. Firstly, they are fabricated. Our complexion is determined by a complex web of genetic factors which decide the number of active melanocytes in our skin, which in turn produce the pigment melanin that decides our skin tone. No fairness cream can alter the innate physiology of our body. Besides, our complexion is an irrefutable manifestation of our roots. We can not change our skin tone any more than we can change our ethnicity. Selling a product that claims to "make" you fair and giving out "fairness scales" to test the same is a logic defying, yet surprisingly compelling con.

Secondly, and more importantly, it amounts to racial victimization. Why portray dark skinned people as shrinking violets who are not successful in their ventures? Why imply that their skin colour doesn't inspire any confidence despite their merits? Why claim that being "fair and lovely" is an essential prerequisite to success - both personal and professional? That is commercialization of racism with a rare tact. How else do u explain the masses lapping up a brown skinned SRK, absurdly looking 5 shades lighter, endorsing a fairness cream for men?

Why do we harbour a prejudice towards dark skin tones? Where does our inexplicable obsession with the fair skin stem from? Is it the classic case of grass being greener on the other side? Does it have something to do with the fact that we were ruled by the British for so long? Do residual memories of the "Raj" still haunt our subconscious? Is that the reason for our collective awe and envy of the fair skin tone? Or are we just victims of incessant advertising? Do we idolize the phrase "beauty is skin deep"? Is that why matrimonial ads emphatically insist on "fair" prospective brides and dowry rates spike blatantly for the dusky ones? For a land that worships the Goddess Kali, could we really be that shallow? Or is her reference as "Kali" the epitome of Indian racism?

What Lies Beyond....?

Neither whispered, Nor asked aloud

A question that raises many a doubt

An answer we have to live without

What is this life really about?

What is the Unknown that Lies Beyond?

Crimson Skies

The gallant soldier fighting his battle
Putting to test the might of his mettle.

Warriors marching forth with glory and pride
The losses of the day, all taken in their stride.

Armour worn and daggers drawn
Rivals heralded by the battle horn.

Bodies shred and veins bled
The battlefield a shade of Red.

Victors applauded, their glories painted
Swords of victory with blood are tainted.

Epics survive to fight another day
Death is a price they too shall pay.

Victor and Wounded separated by a stricture
Every last Dying man completes the picture.

SEX IN THE CITY

Sin of Gomorah is punishable under section 377 of IPC, and yet we get flavoured condoms galore!

Legal age of wife for consensual sex in India is 16 years. But legal age of women for marriage in India is 18 years! Somebody got the math all wrong!

We pledge to love all our brothers and sisters. Meanwhile, incest continues to remain a punishable offence. Where does that leave the Pharoah Complex?

Love the say, is what makes the world go round. Sex on the other hand, releases endorphins that make us happy. Why do people prefer round over happy?!

NOT AGAIN

Serial bomb blasts. Check.
Innocent lives lost. Check.
Spirit of Mumbai applauded. CHECK.

This time there isn't even an itch to know who the culprits are, and what their agenda is. It sounds trivial to hear our politicians' take on it. Nothing shown or said by the media matters. There's nothing anybody is saying now that they haven't already said before.

But it's time they stopped using that pathetic cliche about the "Spirit of Mumbai". When we continued with life after the first blast, we were naive. After the second, we erroneously thought that it would be the last. And for every subsequent blast, it's just been a force of habit. Random acts of terrorism are so frequent now, it's become mundane. We take it as a given. We are so conditioned by it, we almost forget it's not meant to be a part of our routine.

We have roughly 20 lakh families residing in our city. Yesterday, 21 citizens were killed and another 150 were injured. So out of 20,00,000 families, a maximum of 200 families were severely affected, and only those many are grieving today. They are the only ones thinking about critical care units or funeral arrangements. That's a small ratio. And that is precisely the reason you supposedly see life back to normal. That's the reason you see people on the streets as though nothing has happened. Indeed, nothing did happen to their immediate families.

We don't step out on the streets to symbolize our strength and unity. We step out due to a lack of empathy. We step out because our neighbour's loss is not our loss. Life doesn't go 'back' to normal. It had remained normal to begin with for somebody who was no where near the blast sites. There's not a lack of fear in the city, there's a lack of feeling. We are not calm, just cold.

So don't tell me we are fighting gallantly, when we are in fact succumbing silently. We are NOT a city surging forward with "Spirit". We are just a city seeped in apathy.