Death by Bangalore could easily be my favourite ice cream flavour. I could go on about the zillion things I love about my Ooru! However, there are several things I dislike about Bangalore and the Indian society.

Out of this dislike list, there is one thing that has pricked me over and over again. It is the big discrimination based on one's skin colour. As such we are supposed to be brown skinned people, but there is such an obsession with being fair in our society. If you are of a dark complexion then it is almost a sin, more so if you are a girl.
Ever since my school and college, several idiots on the street have passed weird comments about my complexion. If you are not of the fairer skin type, then you will never be picked to be part of a cultural programme in your school days. In my school days, there was this Doordarshan director who came to school to choose children for their programme. I was very excited about the prospect of making it through the audition. But alas! I was not even considered by the teacher who put forward names to the director. I later learnt that this teacher felt I wouldnt look good on screen. It was hurting then, and it hurts even now.

So, point blank, it's been carved in stone, deep down in my head and heart that I am not of the welcomed kind in our society. Things dint change much during college days too. The other kind were the more popular ones everywhere. Things got murkier when relatives brought up the 'marriage' topic with my folks. 'Oh, it will be difficult to find an alliance for her. She is not good looking, also a little dark too', a typical comment that my folks used to hear. Few years later when my folks did pursue few alliances, the most common response they got was,'Oh, we were hoping that the girl be more fair, or little taller or looked pretty'. And I used to think, gosh these people are so shallow. And I know that many of the people around me have this perception too. 'Fair skin' is directly proportional to being pretty and beautiful, atleast in the Indian context it is. What a pity!
I feel fortunate to have met someone who doesnt think anything like the rest,

and that is why he is so special,

and I am so blessed...