Indian campaign aims to put prejudice beyond the pale
Campaign out to educate young who see lighter skin as more beautiful and socially accepted
Indian culture dictates that fair skin equates to beauty and high social status, spurring a huge market for skin lightening products. But campaigners now hope that such attitudes will fade into history.
The organisers of the "Dark and Beautiful" campaign say they want to make young Indians aware of the racism they say is inherent in such beliefs.
The campaign, organised by Women of Worth, a group in Chennai, has received a boost through well-known actress Nandita Das agreeing to lend her face to the campaign's poster.
Das, who says she is weary of being defined in every press interview she gives by the relatively dark colour of her skin - "dusky" is the favoured adjective - has experienced the Indian prejudice against dark skin from childhood.
"People have asked me 'how can you be so confident when you are so dark?' or 'we know you don't like light make-up but you are playing an upper middle class character so please understand'. Had it not been for my parents, I would have grown up believing I was not good enough," said Das.
With her support for the campaign, Das finds herself pitted against Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, who features in ads for "Fair and Handsome" skin lightening cream.