Love All Shapes And Shades

Since the age of 9 .. I have been slapping my face with the fairness creams.
Every facewash was a slap in the face.
Because I was a skin tone which was...'ugly'
My chest was too small for a girl who just got puberty.
I had a voice and opinion but they muted my sound.
Probably because I was told,
Boys only like girls who are fair and lovely

My cousin brother starving himself,
Because skinny abs were easier to obtain than a healthy diet.
We forgot that beauty for men also comes with a cost.
But i have heard being healthy is wealthy and it's both we have lost.

The colour of our skin dictates our beauty,
And that's not only the thing that is unfair
When a dark girl revolt against her reflection
Every time an Indian magazine put a light skinned girl
On a cover.... calling her brown.

So I asked my mother to get me haldi,
Yellow paste over yellow paste,
Because anything is better than brown,
Or anything is better than dark,
Only light skin with European features are considered art.

My friends face is covered with cream more than his girlfriend's kisses
He fliches everytime she says," she accepts him for his true colour".
How do I teach him to embrace the colour of his skin?
When she keeps gifting him fairness creams
His daily baptism with sunscreen to protect him from sun tans.
Men lathering themselves with the same behind close doors.

When I was asked to be an ideal body type, i was taught
They want the curvy chick but not the cellulite,
That want the big butt but not thick thighs,
They want the talk small but the waist smaller,
They want the heart big but the chest bigger,
But you see, it's internalised it's what we have been taught

So I asked my maa,
.. instead of looking for grooms who are fair,
Let's look for a grooms who treat people fairly,
Because colour of someone's skin isn't what we should consider
When we look to marry.
Virtues, believes, opinions and decisions,
Scale large than his stand on a fairness scale.

Forget snow white, say hello !... To chocolate brown
I'll write my own fairlytail.
There isn't a single person who isn't pulled apart by these expectations
Dark girl struggle getting the right foundation,
Boys constantly doing weight calculations,

We all are more than our colouration and body type,
Because you and i, we all are alike,
People aren't made to fit or custom- made,


It's time we realise love comes in all shapes and shades,
It's time we love all shapes and shades ❤️



By:- Aayushi Sharma