This Model Thought ‘Kali’ Was Her Name; Why?

New Delhi: Such is our obsession with fair skin that the only identity of a person with a dark skin tone is ‘kali’ or dark. It is particularly hard for women, especially those in the limelight.

The reason why we see so many ‘dark-skinned’ women doing well professionally, especially in the glamour world, is due to their sheer determination to prove themselves ‘despite their colour’. We get to know about the biases they have grown up with only once they establish themselves as someone to reckon with. It is only when they open up about their ‘dark past’ that light dawns on us. Not that it makes it any easier for the next dark-skinned aspiring model or actress to be accepted.

The latest to talk about her dark skin tone is digital marketer and model Latha Ravichandran from Chennai was so used to being addressed as kali (dark), she did not initially realise she was being bullied for her skin colour. “I thought ‘Kali’ was my name because all my relatives called me that,” she was quoted as saying in a Humans of Bombay post on Instagram.

She recalled how her classmates did not want to sit beside “kali ladki“. She began to think she was “ugly”. “…my confidence took a big hit. I had dreams of becoming a model, but I was convinced that because I was dark, I was ugly.”

“So, to ‘rectify’ that I used fairness creams and talcum powder; I was 13. I thought that if I became fairer, nani would stop taunting me. But it only made it worse – boys started calling me ‘kali bhoot’,” the model expressed, The Indian Express reported.

All of this was a huge blow to the then young girl’s self-esteem. “From being the girl who’d put on fashion shows every day, I became the girl who spoke only when spoken to. Somehow, I got through school and college and landed a marketing job.”

Thankfully, at her workplace, Ravichandran felt nobody was really bothered about her skin colour.  “Then one day, a colleague introduced me to a photographer who wanted to collaborate with me. He said, ‘I’ve never seen anyone with such features.’ It was the first time someone had complimented me,” she wrote.

“That night, I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled. I’d never done that before – I hated my own sight. But someone thought I was beautiful… I agreed to do the shoot!” she added in the post

Soon, Ravichandran began to be approached by other photographers and brands. “I even started wearing bright colours which I didn’t before because amma said, ‘They don’t suit you!’” she expressed.

In the end, it is all about loving yourself, the model believes. “I wasted 25 years of my life living in the shadows when what I really wanted was the limelight, but no more–I’m here & I love myself. Now, I put on the reddest lipstick & strut in front of cameras! I no longer care if people call me ‘kali’–if they can’t deal with the fact that brown is beautiful, then that’s their problem… not mine.”