When you want to insert your hand inside the pages of the book you are reading, pull out the protagonist and give her a tight hug, you know that the author has been successful in creating a lovable character who has played with your heartstrings, tugging them emotionally in all directions. And that’s exactly what Lina Shah, the main character, or shall I say one of the main characters of Unfair written by Rasil Ahuja, did. Together with her best friend Meher Singh, the two 12-year-old girls managed to wriggle their way into my heart.
The story starts with Meher Singh cycling, (she has named her electric blue cycle Bijli), to her bestie Lina’s house. The moment you read that, you know she is the perky character who will provide the laughs, especially the scenes in which she imitates her extended family. After all, with a father who has named his old car Basanti, you know that the Singhs are high on the laughs.
The two girls chat in Lina’s backyard, with Lina updating her friend about her holiday in England. She attended a theatre workshop, courtesy her artiste cousin Janki. Lina is eager for school to start so that she can audition for the seventh grade annual play. On the first day of school, she comes to know that the play is Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; she is excited to audition for the role of Juliet. But when she visits the drama teacher Miss Deepa’s room, she is in for a shock. Miss Deepa turns down Lina’s offer to audition for the play, saying that Juliet was a fair maiden, indirectly conveying to Lina that fair is beautiful and that she was being rejected because of her dark skin.
Unfair treatment
Disappointed, Lina becomes withdrawn; she even stops talking to her best friend, envying
Meher’s fair skin and light eyes. Therein starts Lina’s quest to get a lighter skin. She starts
searching, the internet comes to her rescue, with a plethora of remedies, from turmeric with raw milk to a paste made from baking soda and water. As the baking soda and water paste has no effect on her skin, Lina buys a skin lightening cream from the chemist. The cream, instead of lightening her dusky skin, causes her an allergy. The allergy results in Lina’s confession to her mother about the cream.
On the other hand, Lina’s silence gives Meher all kinds of doubts as to what has gone wrong in their friendship, with Meher seeking the help of her older cousin in America for advice. Meher’s persistence in drawing out a silent and sad Lina from the shell of unhappiness over her skin colour, will remind children of their own friendships, of how they motivated and cheered their friends in rough times and how they themselves were motivated.
The writing is racy, peppered with the lingo of the current generation. The story is told from alternate points of view, with each girl narrating a chapter. Lina’s supportive family and tenacious bestie turn out to be her pillars of strength. Lina’s obsession with the shade of her skin reminded me of my obsession with my frizzy hair and the innumerable homemade treatments I tried to straighten those errant curls.
It’s sad when people are judged by the colour of their skin. What rankled me was the fact that Lina faced this prejudice from a teacher, whose responsibility was to keep a safe distance from all kinds of biases and prejudices. Why does it always have to be fair is beautiful? Is an obsession with a lighter skin shade healthy? What about confidence? What about other attributes? The book throws up these questions and more. Hopefully the book will send out the right signals to children unhappy with their skin colour and to people with a penchant for making judgements based on the colour of someone’s skin.