AP Times article on 'nalupu'
V. Chowdary Jampala (cjampala@quark.dayton.net)
Sat, 26 Jul 1997 15:55:53 -0400 (EDT)
From=20http://www.patime.com/spectrum.html#news1
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Editorial =
( Home)
Features * No Blacks please, we=92re Indians
Other people and nations practise racism, its vic=
tims fight back.
India practises a unique form of it, insidious
and stigmatizing,
violence not physical but aesthetic, whose victim=
s almost totally
identify themselves with it and would rather drow=
n in bleaching
powder than affirm the colour they are
-----------------------------------------------------------=
------------------
No Blacks please, we=92re Indians
Going by the matrimonial columns, there just aren=92t any b=
lack people left in
India, (or for that matter in Pakistan). It would seem that=
the black people
left, leaving Mohenjodaro and Harappa behind for us Aryans =
to brood over. I
am in search of a black queen, a Cleopatra, a sable nymph, =
failing that the
one, what=92s her name.... the one who dances with Michael =
Jackson, the one
with those luscious pouting lips dark wide eyes and long le=
gs will do. I
myself am a black Pasha, as handsome a siddi (Negro), as an=
y mother=92s son.
Tall, broad, slim like Holding and Carl Lewis, a veritable =
cheetah, dear
ladies! Any takers? Any mother=92s daughter who wants to re=
solve the erotic
dilemmas of life with this genetic leftover from Harappa?
I was said to be born here? Maybe, some subterranean geneti=
c [Image]
after-effect, blooming three thousand years later? Maybe, t=
he
tumbling gene of some marauding black Genghis Khan history =
had forgotten,
but who left this chromosomal question, this chromatic quer=
y for you to
unravel? I do not know, but till they take my passport away=
, I remain the
only black Indian. And as far as my libidinous impulses are=
concerned, I
will try and join the CBI or the IRD and visit Sweden or Sw=
itzerland to find
my black princess.
I lived among westerners for three years, was always hard p=
ut to explain
that advertisement for fair and lovely. They would ask, =93=
why not black and
lovely?=94 We used to get 33 T V channels from all over the=
world; there is no
market for bleaching agents anywhere, except in India and P=
akistan. Nobody
offers to turn Denzel Washington into a white man. Or Naomi=
Campbell into a
white woman. Now, look at the advertisement again, till sav=
ed by the
manufacturers of Fair and Lovely, the lady is not merely da=
rk, but
depressed, there are tonnes of oil on her face and hair, sh=
e slouches, and
looks as though nobody in her family ever smiled. If one di=
d not understand
what the advertisement is saying, one wouldn=92t know that =
it is a bleaching
agent being sold, but a combined stimulant, shampoo and ast=
ringent. The lady
smiles, her hair has bounce, the face loses oil.
There are advertisements in other parts of the world for co=
smetics,
specifically manufactured for black women. The Tunisians, t=
he Americans,
Britain, and Somalian...women know how to use them. These w=
omen, they do
identify themselves as =91black=92. But how many Indian wom=
en will be willing to
undergo the trauma of buying a product which identifies the=
m as =91black=92?
Even if it did make them look gorgeous? The cosmetic Quixot=
e who dares to
market such a product will be drubbed by our fair and lovel=
y ladies into
bankruptcy.
We know history, we read the papers, we are indignant! The =
British, Dutch,
Germans, South Africans, Americans - racists everywhere! Bu=
t we Indians are
not. Gandhiji started his struggle in South Africa against
discrimination.... Dear compatriots analyse your songs, yeh=
jheel si neeli
ankhen, (These eyes blue as a mountain lake), or Mora gora =
rang lele, tera
shaam rang dede, (Take my fair glow, give me your dark hue)=
=2E Oh, the
sacrifices of our lovelorn ladies! But ma=92am, what if I h=
ave no desire to
look a pale face? Or take this honoured ghazal, Gar siyah b=
akht hi hona tha
nasibon mein mere (If I had to suffer the fate of being bla=
ck...) Or take
language, (I can give examples only from Urdu as it is my l=
anguage), Urdu
speakers describe black people as,Rang saph nahin hai, Rang=
kam hai.
Translated it means, =93his/her colour is not clean.=94 =93=
Doesn=92t have enough
colour=94. Rang bahut hai, or rang saph gora hai. That is, =
=93has a lot of
colour,=94 or =93colour is clean and white.=94 Liberal spea=
kers try to defend this
mode of speech by translating =91saph=92 as clear, but this=
is untrue, because
there are many black people who have clear complexions and =
I have never
heard anyone describe their complexion as Kala saph rang, =
=93a clear black
complexion=94. On the other hand, a fair, pimply face is st=
ill Saph Gora,
=91Clean and Fair=92.
Other people and nations practice racism, its victims fight=
back. India
practises a unique form of it, insidious and stigmatizing, =
a violence not
physical but aesthetic, whose victims almost totally identi=
fy themselves
with it and would rather drown in bleaching powder than aff=
irm the colour
they are. No, we do not any longer have clubs and compartme=
nts which say,
=91Blacks and Dogs not allowed=92, but if we had our way, w=
hatever else we may
or may not ban, our marital beds and maternity wards would =
definitely say,
=91No Blacks please, we are Indians.=92