skin deep

Two days before,a child was  born to my sister and her husband. I went there to visit the new-comer. It was a baby-girl, and a beautiful one. My sister and her husband were having all sorts of discussions- ranging from how to lay the baby in bed and how to design the cradle, to setting her educational qualifications and even searching for her bride-groom! And then my sister said: "Thank god she is not black like my grandfather. I had a fear about that." A much debated unresolved question re-surfaced from the depths of my racial mind. A question regarding our racial hypocrisy. We are black. But we hate to admit that we are black. We admire being white(specifically, fair). We use a lot of cosmetics to become fairer. As little children, we do not care whether we are dark or fair(or do we?). From our childhood, we are fed by the idea that being fair is beautiful, and dark is ugly. Films, stories reinforce this thought very often. Many films involve situations in which dark-skinniness is used for evoking laughter. Dark students are ridiculed  in school. Parents advise children: "Don't be out in the sun, it will darken you." We have fair heroes and heroines. To be more exact, fairness has to be combined with other features: long nose, thin lips, tall  physique, straight wavy-swavy hair: such are our conceptions of beauty. Our girls like fair boys, our boys like fair girls. Is this the admiration of a slave for his master? A friend of mine told that many Asian girls in Europe fall cheaply for a European boyfriend, and they don't have an esteem for their own race. Is the case same here too?
 Even before the coming of Europeans, when the hold of caste system was stronger here, we had a coloured mind. Is the present prejudice an extension of our past self? It is likely that it is a combination of both and other factors. There is a malayalam saying which goes like :"forgetting to march when you see a sahib(Britisher)". (Sayippine kanumbo kavathu marakkuka.) This is a common attitude of Asians and Africans. Many Indians brag about having European friends, like it is a privilege. This can be a danger, making us lose our self esteem and pride. Cant we be dark skinned and happy?