Saat phere on Zee is worth a watch. Saloni’s in more than skin-deep trouble. Her melanistic visage cancels out all the qualities of her head and heart, which are inadequate to fetch suitable match for her, or approval of her own mother and younger sister. She’s black-skinned and hence a burden on the family. Black is not beautiful in our society. But, we do worship dark-skinned gods like Shiva, Rama and Krishna. In fact, Krishna is considered the ultimate romantic hero who’s ardently sought by fair gopikas, and whose raas leelas have spawned an entire corpus of passionate literature. Shiva is the primordial male – omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent – who’s looked upon as prized spouse by the ultimate celestial beauty, Parvati a.k.a. Gauri (the Fair- Skinned One). Rama personifies morality and ethics in every walk of one’s life. So, to the uninitiated in our societal mores, we must be colour-blind while forging personal, especially conjugal relationships, concentrating only upon a person’s qualities of head and heart. This isn’t so.
The colour of one’s skin matters, especially in case of prospective brides. Remember, the only black-skinned goddess we worship wears a garland of skulls, has a blood-red tongue sticking out of her mouth and is feared for her destructive traits. So, a female deity is preferred as Shubhra or Shweta but never a Kali unless one is seeking protection against demons. Is it any wonder that fair-skinned females have greater success rate in the marriage market than their dusky counterparts? Matrimonial ads are telling examples of our preferences.
Gora rang roop nikharay proclaims the ad for a fairness-promoting concoction on television. Creams promising to turn your swarthy skin into light pink sell better than hot cakes – boyfriends prefer white girlfriends, you’re told in no uncertain terms. Our film stars are invariably light-skinned. Have you seen a black model promoting a made-in-India product? This colour prejudice is embedded into our psyche right from our birth. At home the dark child is kali-kalooti and would rarely be the apple of granny’s eye. At school the fair skinned child stands more than even chance of becoming the teacher’s favourite.
At the risk of digressing, it needs to be mentioned here that the TV reportage of 29/10 Delhi bomb blasts reinforced our brand of apartheid. Almost all news channels concentrated upon white tourists’ reactions to the blasts–not a single channel deigned to interview African or Afro-American/Latin-American tourists. NDTV went further by turning an ordinary Brit into ad hoc expert on our security set-up, the working of our relief and rescue agencies et al! The message is clear, even a white back-packer is preferable to the coloured, especially black, tourists.
So, what chance in the Great Indian Matrimonial Market does poor Saloni have in a society that evaluates a person’s worth by the density of melanin in her system? In fact her life has been made miserable by the women of her own household – her mother, sister-in-law and younger sister. She’s to be married off by paying a dowry of Rs. 25 lakhs in cash! Even if the groom-to-be is a lout. Although a boy from another caste loves Saloni, the marriage has to be within the caste – Rajputs in this case. All attempts by Saloni to break the shackles of caste and dowry have come to naught so far. How she fares in future episodes depends upon the scriptwriter and demands of the TRP.
Rajashree Thakur’s performance as Saloni is notable for subtle facial expressions, eloquent silences and articulate body language – she might well prove to be the reigning star of the small screen in not-too-distant future. Her eyes talk–a sure sign of acting talent. Mohan Bhandari as honest officer and helpless father impresses, while Neena Gupta as Manno Bhabhi, the marriage fixer, entertains and infuriates.
THE TRIBUNE
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