Shatrughan Sinha Says His Mother-In-Law First Rejected His Marriage Proposal To Poonam Sinha Because He Was Dark Skinned
Ask any person with dusky skin and they will be able to list the things they were unable to accomplish because of their skin colour. The worst part is that colourism is so deeply ingrained in our society that most of the time people don’t even realise they’re discriminating against someone. Two hundred years of British colonization can do that to a country. But it’s time we started fighting against our urge to favour fair-skinned people over dark-skinned people. What does skin colour matter anyway? It’s the kind person you are that counts.
For a long time though, we believed that women are more affected by colourism than men. And while that might be true considering how the patriarchy works, we mustn’t forget that men are also subjected to colourism, albeit rarely. An example of this was shared by actor turned politician Shatrughan Sinha during his appearance on the reality TV show, Indian Idol 12, and it’s about this skin.
When Shatrughan Sinha was called handsome by a contestant on Indian Idol 12, he joked that his wife, Poonam Sinha, wouldn’t agree. He went on to share that when he initially asked Poonam’s family for her hand in marriage, her mother immediately deemed Shatrughan unfit for her “gori-chiti sundar” daughter. He said that his late mother-in-law rejected him because he was his skin was dark.
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Shatrughan Sinha shared, “Main apni shaadi ke liye proposal bheja tha. Toh meri late and great mother-in-law ne, unhone mujhe nakaar kar di tha, ek dum reject kar diya tha (I sent a marriage proposal but my late and great mother-in-law completely rejected me.”
He further adds, “Wo kehte the ki main apni beti se shaadi karau, ki meri beti itni gori-chiti sundar hai. Tumhara bhai itna kaaliya hai… Inn dono ko khada karke coloured photograph bhi kheechege toh black and white ka effect aayega. Ye kehke reject kar diya tha (She would say that her daughter is so fair and beautiful but I am so dark, and if we posed together for a photograph, it would look black-and-white).”
It’s time we moved on from this regressive mindset. Having fair skin is not some kind of achievement. We need to get rid of this thought process completely. In Shatrughan Sinha’s case though, we’re glad it all turned out perfectly. The couple got married and now have three children together. Guess the colour of skin didn’t matter in the long run, did it?
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