Radhika* (not her real name) was only 11 years old when she was first told by her aunt to stop spending too much time outdoors. When she questioned why, her aunt tenderly explained that spending too much time in the sun will darken the color of her skin.





"So what if my skin gets darker? Is that bad?", Radhika recalls asking, to which her aunt firmly replied that darker skin was not considered beautiful in our culture; especially for young girls like her.





This marked the beginning of over a decade worth of feeling less than beautiful because of the extra shade of latte on her skin. The words her aunt muttered began a new chapter where her impressionable mind equated fair skin with the epitome of beauty, and darker skin as less than beautiful.





She explains that she began to spend lesser time in the sun as a result and inevitably started to notice the dominance of lighter-skinned celebrities across the Indian film industry.





"Growing up, I've faced countless of comments from my loved ones about the shade of my skin. I inevitably became darker since I played a lot outdoors and my family wasn't happy about it", Radhika said, adding that her older relatives would give her home-made facial masks meant to "lighten and brighten the skin".





"It's difficult for a young Indian girl to feel beautiful when she constantly gets bombarded growing up about the importance of fair skin. The media reinforcing this with their light-complexioned models and celebrities, as well as advertisements of fairness products isn't helping us. Not at all", the young woman emphasised.





It took her more than 10 years to finally embrace her skin colour just the way it is and to feel comfortable spending time outdoors soaking in the sun.





What changed her perspective was getting to know more people from across all walks of lives and interacting with them.





"When you forge friendships with more people from other cultures, communities, you get to know their stories, values and perspective. It made me realize how beauty wasn't something that can be defined by the color of someone's skin. I reflected and came to the realization that the people dear to me came from a lot of cultures and skin colours, and you know what? All of them were beautiful", Radhika said.





It took her over 10 years to unlearn the words of her aunt and let go of the stigma that was instilled in her by other people in her formative years.





"Gone are the days when I feared the sun because it might darken my skin. I can finally look in the mirror and appreciate myself without any doubts, and this was only made possible by the incredible people that I've met over the years. It's important that we take the time to empower and love one another", she said with a smile.





While the epitome of beauty in the South Asian culture may have been equated with fair porcelain skin for generations, times are changing and with women like Radhika taking their time to come forward to share their stories, we hope that the stigma against colorism can end with us. Beauty can be found in all skin colors and you are beautiful the way you are, we hope you take this with you from this story.





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