Among many faces of humanity that of love, care, affection, hatred, jealousy, terrorism, castes differences etc individuals will also find one of the most hurting and cruel faces of “Racism”. The world is obsessed with the ‘White Skin’ and every Sally, Molly, Dolly, Tom, Dick and Harry wants to have a fair skin or else they might not have perfection in getting the right man/woman to marry, plight of discomfort in a dark skin is what they don’t want to be part off. And in the process the person is so focused in getting the results in the said time period. The whites have clearly had the upper hand for a long time. But is that all about to CHANGE... I know the word has been tossed around a lot but are we going to witness something different?
Yes, the Obama historic win and the Lewis Hamilton win have become unforgettable images of an ultimate success no longer restrained because of the colour of their skin. When the twin towers came crashing down the world was never going to be the same again. Yet again is that period when change comes over and things will not be the same again as America gets its first black president and the F1 world its first black race champion. The world is watching and is not blind to the success that the “black man” has achieved purely on self- belief and the determination to be a name of change.
The Obama effect will take a long to fade off from the minds of the people and that’s a good thing because the racist attacks will increase manifold and it would be one of the challenges that has always remained an issue to deal with. So what’s the whole gig here, we know that the topic has been jabbed around by many people and my point here is no different just that this time I was there to witness how it feels to be Afrosized.
The one thing that you gain knowledge of as a growing journalist is to learn as much as you can and exploit the source of wisdom as well. And I for one have been extremely lucky to be part of the learning curve, its nice to learn something new everyday, discover facts and sometimes even better when your witness to a situation etc. So the following is my side of the story of feeling African for two hours with my friends Elijah and Amos, my football freinds.
We all know India is land of culture, tradition and rich ancient history. A place where a thousand gods reside of all faith and perhaps that’s what makes the world marvel at us. And despite many communal problems we have survived and still will for centuries together, religious harmony is something that we are all learning. But the new fade creating a problem in the land of the gods is the colour of the skin you have. That’s right the “colour” a very racist idea but that’s the fact and I wonder if they’ll declare a holocaust on having a darker shade of skin.
For an African visiting the city it’s always a tough task to survive not because they get bullied easy while street shopping like every other foreigner but because they have the “black skin” and are normally known to be cheats and drug addicts. And because of stereotype behavior of society, seeing is acting for many individuals hence the dishing out to the Afros is nothing new. It has been happening since a long time, Hitler did it, the Brits did it, the Australian proudly intended to be a white only nation and the classic ‘Apartheid’ movement tops the list. So what happen to my Afro friends and me was the scripted moment…
The guys wanted to grab a bite after getting done with a meticulous training session under the sun and I was there for company. It was a dissimilar occurrence to have the company of African friends as I had never been out before and so I knew I would experience a difference and so was it. We entered Food Inn, an eatery joint at Colaba Causeway, and as we entered the restaurant we got the “look” more than a warm “welcome to my restaurant smile” that a visitor would get otherwise. And that’s where the sense of being lost happened but in my head I could relate more as an African than Indian because I have a darker shade of skin I have been witness to many taunts that I have got purely due to the colour of my skin. And it’s a fact I found hard to digest when I was growing up but obviously I’ve learnt it the hard way and grown out of it.
We made our orders and the waiter swiftly walked away to get us the food. As we waited at least 15-20 minutes for a dish that didn’t require so much time to get cooked…I know coz I’ve been there ordered the same dish and got in like 2minutes. So I enquired with the waiter, “Kya hua order ka” (What’s happen to the order?) And the reply was “yes yes madam!” Both my African friends could also read what was happening, I tried to deviate and got them to talk about football since it was something common we share. As we got talking the food arrived and everybody ate well and enjoyed every bite.
After some lip smackin’ delayed ‘mutton korma curry’, sweet lime soda and banana milkshake we took a walk to the Gateway of India. As we stopped and enjoyed the nightlights we spoke everything almost everything under the night sky and it was among the best date (not in the actual sense now) I have been at, a very interesting conversation in a long time. Guys need to know one thing, women like it when the “men” talk good stuff…so! And we spoke football, history, racism situations, fun stuff, bitched about everything we could accommodate in that time. People passed by and looked with an expression that was “what the hell is an Indian girl doing with two Afro guys?” but I didn’t bother I stood with the lads and enjoyed the conversation and the time spent.
The meeting up with my Afro friends had a perfect climax, it was scary but it was a different thing. On a perfect weekday at the Marine Drive a place that will never get one bored the cool breeze and the night skyline. We sat there enjoying the site and shared our talks and gossiped perpetually about everything and yes Junior and I were trying to understand the “wanted someone who could the 90mins gig”. And Junior has this cheeky smile on every time we talk about it. And as we three are enjoying the evening a silly stranger walks up to us inquiring where my Afro friends were from and that I should go and show them places. I lost it for a minute coz he sneaked up to us and sat to listen to our conversation; in the most polite tone I told him please excuse us. He left mumbling something and a look on his face as if I were a hooker or helping them plot something huge. Silly how you get the looks when you have a coloured man besides you.
The Afro effect is something….and CHANGE beckons us all.
