Redefining the color black

It is obvious that most people wish to have light skin. When I was small my friends, those innocent kids, who were dark-skinned used to wish for lighter skin on their birthdays. Many dark-skinned people face complications of different forms just because they were born dark. “Kalo Din” as a bad day, “Kalo” person as if somehow, they are less of a human due to their color tells us how we perceive the color black. It is time we redefine the color black.

In the context of Nepal, when the child is born, it is common to find visitors commenting on the color of the baby as part of the compliment--lighter the better of course. When that dark-skinned child starts school, other challenges come along the way. There is where they start getting nicknames like “Kaaley” and “Kaali”. Some may argue these nicknames are a form of love but guess what? It’s mostly not. We never consider that child’s mentality and we kind of make them believe being lighter-skinned somehow means more beautiful and superior. And it seems to apply more on girls than boys.