The Dravidian Problem

Aishwarya Rai is from South India: Karnataka. She does not look like a dravidian though.  Indian actors are indeed a heterogeneous mix. Yes, Rao, a dravidian can be identified by physical features alone, because their features are unique. Just like people from China and eastern asia are classified as mongoloids because of their obvious differences.

Originally posted by Kashmiri most of those actors have links with north india. thats why they dont look south indians.

look all i am saying is that these actors looks more north indian then south indian, i guess largerly because of their skin colour. i dont know the exact reason behind why they have fair skin and why some south indians have fair skin

what do you mean by north west indian? and yeah true their features are actually not north indian, like hema malini or shilpa and ash their features are pretty south indian. and oh yeah if you look at old movies of some of these actresses in their regional languages their preety dark skinned, i guess they used some kind of method to become fairer to get roles in bollywood.

what do you mean when u say race is a myth? surely there are differences in so many people around the world, let alone india.

there are clear three types of races in the world, Africans, Causcasians and Mongolied. There skull structure is the main thing that differs.

Edited by mughal - 15-Apr-2007 at 13:12

True but the reason westerners call them dravidian is basis on that the southern indian lanuagages are different then north india.

Indians spend billions in bleach creams to lighten their skins. Indian actors are not really FAIR, they have tons of lights, cameras and bleaching products and lightening makeup to cover up their dark shades. India is infamous for the bleaching industry, with billions of consumers. http://www.iht.com/articles/1998/04/24/light.t.php

I think you need to get over the whole issue of defining race in India.

Skin color is but one factor in determining race. Skin pigmentation in an individual is more affected by the natural surroundings than by genetics. Though it's true that an acquired pigmentation can not be passed down genetically, chances are that the offspring will be raised in the same type of environment, and therefore will appear similar in color to to the parents.

In the summer time, i can become a whole two shades darker than in the winter. (http://www.joiedevie.com/joiedevie/about%20Joy_files/StickShades1.jpg) (i go from a "rich bronze" to a "dark coffee" and even an "ebony brown" in the face and lower arms)

Skin bleaching can change the appearance of a person, but not to the extent you may think. Several years of bleaching would lighten a person's skin to the same extent a good tan would darken someone.

I also find this accusation of skin bleaching odd, because every time someone brings it up, they accuse the Indian population of someone trying to imitate or look like someone else. It is after just skin. Are the millions of American women who go to tanning salons to bronze themselves trying to imitate Indians?

I mean, if you want to accuse Indians of trying to be something they are not, why pick on skin color? Why not say Indian people are trying to whiten themselves with a short buzz cut? Or by wearing jeans? Or by putting blond highlights in their hair? Or by dressing up in a tuxedo?

Why this obsession with skin?

Skin alone does not determine anything. To try to determine the race of a person solely based on skin color will accomplish nothing.

Neither will posting up pictures of celebrities who have changed their appearance. They could afford it. They think it looks good. To accuse an entire population of being racially self-hating based on what a few rich celebrities do with their nose, eyes, or otherwise is criminal.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but north indians and south indians are racially similar. In fact, to call someone a north or south indian based on anything other than geographical location is plain stupid. Their is no "north indian" look that is different from any "south indian" look. If you want to talk ethnicity, go ahead. If you want to compare a guy from Rajasthan to a guy from Gujurat, go ahead. But you can't just divide India into "north" and "south" like that. It's too homogeneous.

By the way, i hope you don't think that last picture of shilpa shetty is "light skinned" or anything like that. Besides being a horrible picture (sleepy w/ one eye shut?), almost every Indian auntie i know looks as dark as her. Her skin color is not out of the norm for an Indian, especially given our diverse genetic makeup and diverse lifestyles.


Edited by AlokaParyetra - 19-Apr-2007 at 15:14

I think Mughal is unnecessarily diverting the issue.

Edited by K. V. Ramakrishna Rao - 20-Apr-2007 at 09:01