Under your skin

KOCHI: When Dr Reji Dev and Arvind Divakaran envisaged Black Inkblot, they imagined triggering a movement, a cultural revolution against colourism. They wanted to show that black is beautiful. “It came to a point where we didn’t want to not do anything about it. We picked Instagram as an interface, as the social media platform has good reach among youngsters,” says Reji Dev, now a doctor in Wayanad. He and Arvind, a student, started the page @black_ink_blots, where they publish anecdotes from the life of dark-skinned people from across the state. Their friend Lakshmi Marikar joined them in the initiative. 

It’s not that fair
While travelling through the state, one can see advertisements of international brands with dark-skinned models, promoting jeans or skin-care products. “But Indian brands are still hooked to the concept of fair-skinned beauty. Even while Bhima’s recent ad on the transgender wedding was released, the characters were still from ‘Mangalassery tharavadu’,” he adds. The team planned a crowd-funded photoshoot, but couldn’t even raise Rs 3,000. “We were disappointed, depressed even,” he shares. In July last year, they set up the Instagram page, which gradually gained popularity.

“We decided to not be political on the page. The conversations regarding colourism always get polarised. We wanted to encourage cultural dialogues,” says Reji. But the paradox is that the idea of resisting colourism in a deeply judgemental society itself is a political statement. “In the mainstream movies or entertainment, there is no adequate representation of dark-skinned people. Look at characters played by Vinayakan. They are always violent, angry. Why can’t he be part of a love story? Why can’t he be an artist?,” asks Reji. 

Most of the testimonials showcase the struggles a dark-skin person goes through irrespective of caste and class. “It made us realise where we stand as a society. We also wanted to showcase fashion in the context of dark skin. Society deems that some colours and clothes are not for dark-skinned people. A misconception, really,” he says. Bright clothes on dark-skinned people, especially those belonging to the so-called ‘lower caste’ are ridiculed, even if it’s beautiful, much like the society that is soon to dismiss tribal fashion as primitive, he says.

 Arun Balan

Arun Balan, shares his experience of filming his first short film titled Ezhazhaki on the page. The woman-oriented film tries to portray love, sorrow and sweet revenge. It has already received more than 1 million views on YouTube. 

Yalini Balamurali
“I am an anonymous mascot princess who is here to open up about her story,” begins Yalini Balamurali from Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. After suffering years of bullying and teasing due to the colour of her skin, The National Institute of Fashion (NIFT) student talks about a photoshoot that made her feel beautiful and comfortable in her skin.

Ahalya Suresh
The “daughter, friend, wife, mother, student, teacher, actor, vlogger and a proud woman of colour,” shares how she realised the world belongs to her too. She shows her love for her husband and partner through her testimonial.

Krishnapriya Thilakan
Krishnapriya Thilakan from Tripunithura is passionate about modeling and dancing. She has always been proud of herself, loved her body, skin tone, weight and quite believes she’s a perfect woman. 

Meenakshi Mathimohan

The Class XII student never liked taking her pictures, as she was worried about her complexion. But she found this photo of hers adorable when her friends and sister said it was amazing. Now, she barely cares about what the society has to say.