F - Fair

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Fair, smart and good looking bride required for Hindu boy, 28 working as an advocate in a well established firm. For further details, contact...

Anjali rolled her eyes at the matrimonial ad that her parents had marked in the news paper. What was it with Indian men and their obsession with skin like Snow-white's? She had never understood the logic. Sure, she hailed from a well to do and educated middle class family; but when it came down to her complexion, they had tried all they could to mask her face in so much powder and make up in an effort to hide the dark skin beneath. The end result ended up in her looking garish, turning her otherwise healthy skin a sickly grey pallor. 

When she was in her teens, she had spent all her pocket money buying creams that promised fair skin in a matter of weeks. Other than her pocket growing a huge hole, it did nothing to her chocolate brown skin. It remained the same, reluctant to lighten. Anjali had hated going to weddings and other social gatherings where the so called well-wishers would pull her aside and give her tips for home made remedies that they swore would work if she stuck to it religiously. Others were not so discreet. She could feel the sly sniggers and dirty looks that the other girls gave her when she left their crowd. 

As she grew up, she realized that having a dark skin tone was not the end of the world. She was blessed with glowing skin that was free of blemishes. She learnt that with the right colored clothes and make up to suit her tone, she looked attractive. Her life changed on a Sunday afternoon when she went to get her hair done. The hair dresser praised her thick black locks. He recommended her to a makeup artist who did magic with a few strokes of his brushes, and she could hardly recognize herself as she looked in the mirror, when he finished. 

Slowly but gradually, she regained her confidence in herself. However, at almost thirty years of age, she was her parents living nightmare. An unmarried daughter at a certain age with a certain complexion was deeply frowned upon in the society. Love had deluded her. She had fallen in and out of love, but had never found the one she wanted enough to spend her rest of life with. 

Dismissing the newspaper ad, she took out her pen and began to write her own matrimonial ad in the notepad lying beside it.

Groom wanted for a well educated, independent girl. Said girl is neither fair nor demure. Neither does she believe in cliches. She is looking for someone who can accept her for who she is and not who she could be. P.S. The dark skin is here to stay. 

Linking this post to the A to Z Challenge.