Real Life Stories
Talking about racism is important precisely because doing so makes us uncomfortable. When people share their experience with racism and hate, it helps us understand each other better and brings us closer to conceptualizing a more accurate version of our country’s history.
Faizy
from Kerela
Growing up as a dark complexioned girl isn’t a pretty story . You have to face a lot of friendly well meaning jokes by friends and relatives, even strangers. I had a dark skin and bad teeth giving a way to lot of unsolicited advices. Trying hard to act cool through the teasing and nicknames made most of my childhood. After moving to delhi , I began being comfortable in my non toxic environment. Being beautiful in your own skin is one of the best feelings I’ve known till date. Im still the same old me , same features and same skin. What changed are some patriarchal concepts and in built shame I was forced to buy into.
Vani from
Ayyampuzha
I am the only one in my class who has read Sapiens, and I was the editor of our department magazine "Pelayan Colour," which won the best department magazine award. But that's not the end of my narrative. Having many physical issues from birth, my tiny size, and grey hair made me the focus of attention wherever I went. I recall professors categorising us into two groups based on our skin tone. That was the first time I felt ostracised because of my skin colour. Many things at the time made me feel inadequate and labelled me as a "introvert." But, later on, I discovered that I am beautiful just the way I am, and that we are the ones who should speak—those worthy of holding the microphones.
Amal nadh
My name is Amal Nadh and my mother gave me this name . At first , I was not very fond of this but soon I loved it twice as much. From young age , I was ignored because of my color and physical appearance . For these reasons , from the time I joined the school until higher secondary years, I couldn’t perform as much as my peers. For a very long time , I thought it was all my fault or because of my defect. College life was different than the previous enviroments and having people around me to push me to achieve my dream I where I started feeling alive again.
Rahul raghavan
I had this inferiority complex because of my dark complexion growing up . I had passion for modelling in teenage and everyone around me was really cheering me up but everytime when I stood in front of mirror I had no confidence. After some time , some people made me realize that life is much beautiful than I think and how much I have missed the beautiful days in my life. Life was changing from the point that I realized color tone of the skin have nothing to do in my life . There are still people who comment that I am good looking even though I am dark skinned. There is only one thing I want to tell out to the world that is nothing can stop you, "if you find the inner beauty that lies within you".
Swathy karthik
I don’t remember being black and beautiful during my childhood . The insecurities around my skin tone grew up with the constant struggle of my lower middle class economic background . I was always inspired by the stories of my grandfather used to share, his participation in the revolutionary communist theatre movement , KPAC and how he got to shape his thought against inequalities people like us had to face at that time. It is from him I have learned to row a canoe. It is from him , I have learned to row against the inequalities of the society . Being black and beautiful is something I have adapted. To take a stand against all kinds of inequalities is something I absorbed from the social circumstances.