Lifestyle

By Aishwarya Nabh

During the battle of Kurukshetra the Pandavas brother were advised by their warrior-in-chief
that a warrior from their side has to be sacrificed to goddess Kali in order to gain a winning
edge over the Kauravas – and the chosen warrior was none other than Arjun’s son who was
born out of wedlock– Aravan.

Though Aravan had no qualms in going ahead and getting himself sacrificed for the victory
of the Pandavas in the battlefield and he did so for the love for his family and uncles, but he
had one last wish before voluntarily succumbing to death – he wanted to get married,
therefore, he was offered three blessings by Lord Krishna; first- that his death will be written
down in history books as an heroic act, second- he would be able to witness the war even after
his death and third being – he would get married before he dies. But then the dilemma was – which king would have his daughter get married to be widowed the next morning – it is then,
that Lord Krishna assumed the form of Mohini- a beautiful young woman and married
Aravan.

In Koovagam, a small village 200 miles south of Madras, on Chitrai Purnima – the new year
of the Tamil lunar Calendar – the village becomes a festive ground for individuals from the
third gender community coming over from all around the country for a ceremony of
marriage and subsequent widowhood. The individuals from the aforesaid community get
dressed up in their best bridal attire and marry the deity. It is an 18 day festival taking place
at Koothandavar temple, every April, this ancient myth comes to life in Koovagam, where
Lord Aravan is worshipped. The third gender group in Tamil Nadu, who are devotees of
Lord Aravan are called Aravanis.

There are make-shifts stalls within the temple premises, where coconuts, flowers and bangles
are bought and same the is offered to Lord Aravan – there are also beauty pageants organised
where they wear their best sarees, elaborate hairstyles, gaudy make-up and gold jewellery – and parade down the runway, showing off their talent to the thunderous applaud from the
audience. The beauty pageants have received considerable attention and recognition over the
years.

Considered mostly a joyous festival, Aravanis here also talk about the sexual abuse and assault
that they undergo everyday of their life along with being ostracised by the society at large. But
at least in Koovagam – they are welcomed to be who they are.

Aravanis enact the story from the Tamil rendition of Mahabharata, where they get married
to Lord Aravan, one of the priests from the temple starts the wedding by tying a yellow
coloured string called the thali (mangalsutra) around the neck of each Aravani, to make her
one with her Lord. Thrilled after getting married, Aravanis make merry by dancing and
singing dressed in their bridal attire till late night.

The next morning which is the last day of the festival, is when Lord Aravan is sacrificed and
this is when Aravanis gather around in a huddle at a designated mourning ground called
azhukalam- and start to cry because their beloved Lord Aravan is no more. As one of the
rituals is to indicate the start of widowhood, a priest from temple breaks the Aravani’s
bangles, cuts the thali and throws it in the pyre outside the temple.

The Aravanis now change into widow whites to accept their widowhood and walks away from the temple and mourn for a month. The widowhood is only symbolic and temporary. A massive effigy of Lord Aravan is taken through the streets of Koovagam and then the body is set to flames – and they return next year for the same marriage ritual.

Koovagam is a rare occasion when the whole community is united, comes together under the
same roof and openly flaunt their sexuality and gender without being mocked at or shunned.
This is also a political statement as much as it is a cultural one – a collective protest against
the society for being ill treated and discriminated till date.

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One day in 1937, two young long-haired women in saris stepped into a small photo studio in Madras. They changed into striped pyjama suits and struck a pose 👇 in front of the studio camera. One of them leaned languidly against a chair, while the other’s eyes focused on something outside the frame. Both of them held cigarettes.

The world-renowned Carnatic vocalist MS Subbulakshmi and the legendary Bharatanatyam dancer Balasaraswati were just having a bit of fun.

“The two teenaged friends both became world-famous artists,” wrote Douglas Knight J in the biography Balasaraswati: Her Art & Life. “From strictly disciplined households, the two asserted their independence by secretly arranging this photograph of themselves dressed outrageously in Western-style sleepwear and pretending to smoke cigarettes.”

This iconic photograph was first made public only 73 years later, in the 2010 biography of Balasaraswati penned by her son-in-law Douglas Knight J. By this time, the successful careers of these artists were so highly revered over decades, almost deified, that this picture quite suddenly threw light on a whole new aspect of their lives – just two young friends attempting to do something unconventional.

The stir caused by the release of the photograph among fans of both luminaries is perhaps understandable, particularly in the case of Subbulakshmi.

According to TJS George’s biography M.S. Subbulakshmi: The Definitive Biography, Subbalakshmi’s career and public image was steered and moulded by Sadashivam, her husband and mentor, from that of a talented young devadasi – a community that has traditionally taken to performing arts – to an the ideal, devout Brahmin wife.

While Balasaraswati followed the matrilineal traditions of the devadasis by staying with her extended family in her original home, and taking a partner who also supported her art, this was not the case with Subbulakshmi. Nevertheless, both of them went on to be lifelong friends.

“It is a very important picture that goes to show that not everyone was born with a nine-yard saree or does everything with tradition,” Knight notes in his book. “That is our own perspective, and we don’t like things that fall out of it. We all need a jolt sometimes.”

Read More Here :
https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/fyi/story/m-s-subbulakshmi-t-balasaraswathi-1937-pyjamas-cigarettes-portrait-13954-2016-06-13

By Sharanya Venkataraghavan

Fair and Lovely has been a large part of every Indian’s childhood. Who doesn’t know of those ads where a dark-skinned woman with low self-esteem is handed a tube of Fair and Lovely which instantly lightens her skin, empowering her to achieve every dream of hers? And which Indian can’t sing that tune synonymous with transformation and goal fulfilment? In light of the backlash as part of the Black Lives Matter Movement, Unilever has taken the decision to remove all mentions of “lightening”, “whitening” and “fairness” from products and change the name of Fair and Lovely in a move to be more inclusive and diverse. Similarly, Johnson and Johnson had taken the decision to stop the sale of any lightening products that it sold

History

“Fair and Lovely” introduced in India as early as 1975, is a name that echoes the attitude of Indians. It has been one of India’s most successful cosmetic brand with an 80% market share in the lightening cream market. Since then, the fairness cream market has grown with big players like Dabur India, Emami, ITC Limited and Procter and Gamble selling their own versions of fairness creams with the promises of whitening, lightening, reversing blemish and making everyone “beautiful”.

The fairness cream market had largely been targeted at women till in 2005, Emami asked Indian men why they’re still using women’s fairness cream when they can have one of their own. And thus, Fair and Handsome was launched. Fair and Handsome while part of the larger ambit of fairness creams, is the leader in the Male Fairness Cream sector. Emami, which has 80% market share in the male segment follows largely the same problematic pattern of sales that Fair and Lovely and other fairness creams do, using famous celebrities and showing fair skin as the solution to all problems and even its name has the same connotations that Fair and Lovely does, just reversed for gender. This shows how while skewed in favour of women, the problem of celebrating fair skin isn’t limited by gender.

Advertising

Across brands, fairness creams found under various names sold to various segments carry largely one problematic message – “Fair is better”. Before and after pictures of people, celebrity endorsements where these now famous celebrities explain how fair skin has given them all the success they needed, a fantasy of what your life could be after you get the fair skin you always wanted-finding a partner, getting the job, a sudden boost in self-esteem are the most common tropes followed by these advertisements. Ads have slowly become more and more subtle while delivering the message, now these creams being the confidence boost you need to fulfil the goal, rather than the only way for a dark-skinned person to achieve these forms of success.

In February 2020, India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare finalised an amendment which will ban advertisements promoting fairness creams and products promoting anti-ageing remedies – with potential jail time for offenders. This was a move to push against fairness cream ads that demean dark skin and promote colourism in India. While these products may not be on television screens anymore, they were still being sold in the market. One wonders if the decision of Unilever to remove all fairness products, is in part compulsion that choice, thanks to this ban on advertising fairness creams.

The Larger Problem

In a few days, weeks or months, we’ll live in a world where Fair and Lovely isn’t called Fair and Lovely anymore, Johnson and Johnson doesn’t sell fairness products anymore and we won’t see women and men become successful because of using a fairness cream on our televisions anymore. In a country where matrimonial ads still want “fair brides”, ask girls not to be out in the sun for too long and dark-skinned women are constantly receiving unsolicited home remedies on how to brighten your skin, will the obsession with fair skin magically die out with less exposure to such toxic messages and products?

India’s obsession with fairness long outdates the introduction of fairness creams into Indian markets. While these various brands have exploited this for purely monetary reasons, this obsession was and is the reason that fairness creams sell. There continue to be people who aspire to be fairer, who feel inadequate in their own skin because of this narrative. And it is our personal failure as a society, our own fault that people across ages feel like their self-worth of acceptability increases just by being “fairer”.

These superficial changes by big brand names are no solution, but are definitely a conversation starter. “Fair and Lovely” might not available in a tube at your nearby store, but found in abundance in the mindset of the people around you. It’s up to make use of this to highlight the inherent colourism of our culture, have that difficult conversation about how we’re just as much a part of propagating the ideal of fair skin and its dominance. Turns out, what we were after was a “fairer” world and not one of equality. So, make that conscious decision and use this as that wake-up call to check your biases.

Art work by Ayush Kalra. Check him out at www.ayushkalra.com