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Indian Obsession with fair skin

‘Don’t go out in the sun’ ‘Don’t drink tea you’ll get darker’ ‘Drink Milk you’ll get fairer’ ‘Why don’t you try fairness creams’ ‘You’ve got nice features but you are dark’ You must have heard thousands of these advises and comments if you have a dusky shade as our Indian society is obsessed with fair skin so much that skin whiteners and lighteners make up the largest segment of the facial care market in India. The Indian cream market in 2014 was estimated to be around half a billion dollars that’s around 3000 crores. Beauty in Indian minds is associated with fair skin. You are considered to be pretty only if you have a light shade. It’s like idolising fairness. Indian obsession with fair skin has reached such a stage where people are judged on the basis of their skin colour. One of the major factors that is kept in mind while selecting a groom or bride is their skin colour. Skin colour is like an indicator for moral, ethical, intellectual qualities. This obsession c...
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Gender Equality: reality or fantasy?

From  “I’ll have to ask my father” to “I’ll have to ask my husband” these lines perfectly summarise almost every other Indian girl’s life. From ‘Parent’s paradise’ to ‘In- law’s home’ From “You have to go to an unknown house” to “she has come from an unknown house”  we girls have almost nothing to call our own. Do we have our individuality? The only thing people associate with women is beauty. It’s not that we don’t like being beautiful but it’s just that there is more to us than mere looks. We have dreams that unfortunately remain dreams We have thoughts and ideas that remain unexpressed            We have a personality that remains suppressed  Are we even allowed to express? We are expected to study not because we need to but, only to keep up to the family’s name or to attract a good spouse We are expected to cook in the kitchen, not to satisfy our hunger but to satisfy other’s taste buds We are expected to dress up not because we want to b...
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I wish

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Child during the Sudanese conflict  Picture downloaded from the internet;  all rights belong to the owner I wish to fast for Ramadan   Instead  I am starving due to war. I wish to burst crackers  Instead hear bombs.  I wish to play hide and seek with my friends, Instead I am hiding from gunmen. I wish to celebrate festivals  Instead I am grieving my family’s death. I wish to play with toys Instead I am a toy for the government.  I wish to play Instead I’m being played I wish to hold a toy gun Instead I’m given a real gun  I wish to wear new clothes  Instead I’m ripped of my old ones as well I wish to have delicacies  Instead I don’t have basic food  I wish to lead a normal life  Instead I don’t have a life  I wish to live  Instead I’m hoping to die -Rushda Shamsi 
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F-A-T

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Picture downloaded from the internet; All rights belong to the owner They shamed her, ‘Ugly’ they named her, Fat she was called, And that was not even her fault. In a world full of perfection, She fell under the ‘fat’ section, Bullying was their profession, She sinked into depression. At night she cried, Till the tears dried, She craved to be called a beauty, To tell her, fat she was, they thought it was their duty. They were plastic, The next step she took was drastic, She picked up the knife, To end her life. She shut her eyes, To her loved ones she silently apologised. -Rushda Shamsi
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Firecracker 💥

-its_charismaa It was 14th April, 12:15 am when I was  startled by a series of loud noises, it was the  firecrackers lighting up the sky. As I sat there at my window watching the firecrackers I  recalled an incident two years back when I  was woken up by a loud noise at 2am. My  heart had started racing, I suddenly felt my  body go numb, I was terrified to even move   from my bed. What could that be? It was  2-A-M. I started thinking the worst. I had  heard a similar sound on 26th November  2010 and that had proven to be a bomb.  With a lot of  courage I got up and peeped out of my  window and it was some people  dancing and celebrating something on the  street. I calmed down a bit for sometime till my feeling of  nervousness was replaced by  anger and  irritation. ‘How can people burst  crackers at 2am?’ I was annoyed and after a  long time,  trying to calm myself I went to  sl...
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CRY

Oh! you cry baby, Are u a lady? Boys don’t cry, Be a man, why don’t you try. Tears are for the weak, You listen to what they speak, Be strong, is what they say, Oh no! They are wrong,  crying makes you  stronger any day. Let the lava out, You’ll feel better, no doubt, Don’t let it build inside you, You’ll get through. You are brave I justify, Because your not afraid to cry. - Rushda Shamsi
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DAD

When I look at my father, I don’t see him, I see the sacrifices he has made, I see a live shield, guarding us, I see that hardwork has a face, I see the years of sleep he missed, I see his fun lifestyle fading, When I look at my father, I see unconditional love.  -Rushda Shamsi
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