216 | ASIA ONE | JULY-AUGUST 2018
interview
issues women faced – domestic
violence, wage inequality, lack of
access to education etc. I didn’t realize
the magnitude of the damage prejudice
against dark skin was having on young
minds until I came into contact with
Dark is Beautiful.
What are your views on the
glorification of fairness, which
is quite prevalent in the Indian
society?
The glorification of the fair skin has
been a persistent part of our history and
culture. There are many theories on
why it has become such an obsession.
The one that seems most plausible
to me is that of the caste hierarchy,
which overlaps with the class pyramid.
For centuries, the upper class/caste
has been fair and the lower caste/
working class, dark. Historically, the
former worked indoors and had better
nutrition, while the latter toiled in the
sun and were under-privileged and
disadvantaged in many ways. With
mixed marriages and changes in social
strata over the centuries, there is now
a diversity in the way people look. But
instead of celebrating that diversity, we
as a nation have become obsessed with
being fair because of its association
with power, wealth and privilege. This
bias reflects the bias of our society. In
subtle and blatant ways, our language
reflects it too – things like, ‘uska rang
saaf hai’ to describe fair people, as if
dark skin is dirty. It is tough to combat
a mindset that becomes entrenched in
all spheres of society – art, history,
language, mythology, pop culture...
Please share the reception of Dark
is Beautiful Campaign with our
readers.
The response to Dark is Beautiful
has been truly overwhelming. I think
the time has come to react to the
fairness obsession. When I supported
this campaign, I didn’t imagine that
it would go viral. I was also clueless
about it from social media as I am not
very active on it. Since I joined the
campaign, I have received a number
of mails, from women mostly, sharing
their stories of discrimination and
their feelings of validation because
of it. There is still a long way to go
before our perceptions of what is
beautiful can celebrate what is natural
to each of us instead of forcing us all
to fit one definition of beauty. But
on an optimistic note, the fact that
this campaign has triggered so much
awareness and conversation is a step
in the right direction.Do you remember any particular
incident or source of inspiration
which motivated you to don the role
of an advocate of social issues?It is often not any one incident or a
single person that changes the path
of your life. Many life experiences,
over many years, have impacted my
choices, my concerns and the means I
have chosen to express them.
Both my parents are sensitive and
compassionate to people and that
created a natural environment of
empathy in my upbringing. The formal
engagement with social issues started
in my last year of school. I joined a
street theatre group called Jan Natya
Manch. We improvised plays on social
issues like gender equality, secularism,
workers’ issues in factories etc. We
performed them at street corners, in
slums and in small towns. Four years
with the group and its founder, Safdar
Hashmi, were my earliest initiations
into socio-political issues. Then I
took a year off after my graduation
in Geography honours and taught
at Rishi Valley, a J. Krishnamurthy
foundation school. It instilled in me
a love of children and education. I
realised that I wanted to work with
people and know more about the
world in a more real sense. So I went
on to doing my Master’s Degree in
Social Work. A degree doesn’t make
you a better social worker, but it
exposes you to many realities that one
may not be aware of. And once you
are exposed to those realities, as any
sensitive person would, you want to do
something about it.
I worked with two different NGOs for
the next 5 years. And then by accident,
Fire, happened. After that, I began
getting many acting assignments.
Unlike many other Indians, I didn’t
grow up watching Bollywood films,
so never developed an appetite formainstream films. I quite organically
I veered towards more realistic and
independent cinema. The 40 films
I have done in 10 different Indian
languages, have given me a platform to
not only be part of stories that need to
be told, but also an opportunity to be
able to share my concerns. Over time
it has expanded my area of influence.
This is how, by accident and not
design, that I became a social advocate
for things I cared about. I have no
NGO or “pet cause” as often people
ask, but I feel compelled to speak up
about all forms of discrimination and
violence. Most issues are interlinked
and part of the same web of inequality
and prejudice.You are often considered as the
Social Go-getter. What do you have
to say on this?For me there is no separation between
work and life. They are the same.
What drives me in life, drives me in
my work. Art, whether in the form of
acting, writing or directing is a means
for social change, however small that
change maybe. More often than not,
I am happy that I do what I love and
love what I do!Q
&
A