[Tessa] Week 3

On Being White: 

The color of my skin is not doing me any favors here. I draw attention everywhere I go, no matter how hard I try to sport the kurtas and bangles. I have been made well aware that I am a ‘gora’, which means white, or a ‘feringhee’. Miranda Kennedy, in her book Sideways on a Scooter, says that the term “Feringhee stems back to the time of the crusades, when Indian Muslims used the word to refer to Christians: the base of the word is Frank, once used for people of European descent.”

It’s been an eye-opening and interesting experience being a part of the minority. When I am on the metro and there are no other women in the car with me, I quickly feel far more self-aware than I ever have before. 

It is also interesting how early on in life we, as humans, perceive difference. The children in the pre-school, as young as two or three years old, holler when I come in on most days. Yesterday, I walked in and a child started crying. I was speaking with the director for a little while, and noticed that he had stopped crying when I stepped out. As soon as I re-entered, he started crying again. “Why?” I asked. Rajwanti pointed to my face. “Gora.” They had to hide me for the sake of the ears of the whole building. My Mediterranean skin tone is just not cutting it.

That being said, Tanfastic will not be making any money off of me. In India, women and men alike spend money on lotions and creams to make their skin whiter. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side. And for now, I have bigger fish to fry: a research project that is well under way, six more museums to see in Delhi, and a whole lot of butter chicken to eat.

As Salaam Alaykum from Nizamuddin,

Tessa