😆 It's such a unfortunately common issue with South Asian people! I guess fair is considered to be beautiful rather than dusky which is considered to be ugly. My best guess is that I guess many South Asian families are stuck in the colonial times where young British women were considered beautiful because of their untouched and pure pale skin. And I believe, being dark or dusky is NOT a bad thing... if we want to be more scientific about it then it's really about how much melanin your skin produces. 😆
And in your situation when you called your son "Kaalu" affectionately, your mother took it as an offence is because being "Kaala or Kaali" is a bad thing because being dark means you're not very good looking. Trust me, lol, I've seen it with my own eyes... But, honestly speaking even I'm not the lightest...I have a olive tone to me. I've seen such beautiful girls and handsome guys who are dusky...their features are usually the most brightest! And in the end my dear, that's all that matters. And this sort of "dusky" and "pale" issue is just passed on generation to generation even if our generation doesn't neccessarily care, but it's usually the older generation that cares! Because this concept of pale and dusky was so deeply ingrained in their mind that it's so hard to convince them otherwise.
And another teeny tiny History lesson here, this dark and light issue was prevalent in Britain as well too! The paler women were considered beautiful and of high class society and the more darker women were considered as part of the lower class society and as less beautiful. So I guess the British left too much of themselves back in India. 😆
I've seen this really annoying auntie I know of and she commented saying to my mother, " Aapki bahu kaa rang dood jaisa saaf hai"
Meaning, your daughter in laws skin is as clear and white as milk. Good lord, the auntie really took milk seriously...😆 But I guess that's why... I hope this explains it for you!
Edited by Desigirl144 - 12 years ago
Jhanak
Udne Ki Aasha
