Black Beauty

What is the first thought that strikes you once you hear the word “Black”? With what do you associate the color black?

For me black is something beautiful, elegant and intriguing.

A black Stud, especially when it is running a derby race!

A black Mercedes or Volkswagen Jetta car

A black Flat screen television

A black Refrigerator with flowers on it

The movie black, which depicted the life of a blind girl, whose world was nothing else, but black!

A person wearing a black tuxedo suit or a woman wearing a black sari

The trophy for the Filmfare awards, which is Lord Shiva doing a dance.

Huge, tall black panda bears, Black panthers

All these look beautiful to me.

Black eyes, black hair are a symbol of beauty.

But a black face? No, one is usually called dark, if he/she is not fair, calling someone black is considered as an insult to a particular race residing in far away countries. Majority of the people in India are not very fair like in the European countries and this color plays a very important part when it comes to seeking alliances. Everybody wants a fair, smart, attractive wife, even if the groom himself is not fair. Why are we so finicky about this white color? Why are there hundreds of beauty creams in the market for making someone fair? Is being dusky or dark a crime? Why should someone be ashamed of it? It is the color which God has chosen for us and I think we should be very happy about it.  When I was in Germany for some time, people stared at me initially, but then a German friend told me that they stare me for my brown, dusky colored skin. I saw in a beauty salon later that they were offering people to get tanned at a price of 25 Euros per hour. I did not know whether to laugh or cry. Those people want to become brown and tanned and people in India want to become fairer and whiter day by day.. It is rightly said, one doesn’t not realize the value of what one has until he/she loses it.

I have seen many so-called “modern” ladies coloring their dark, black hair into brown or pink or golden. I detest it, why should we tamper with the natural things which are conferred to us? Why use chemicals and destroy the natural structure of hair? Who would tell the consumerism driven society that black is really beautiful and pink, brown, golden wouldn’t match it at all? Matter of choice, I guess!

Coming back, I always wrote all my exams with a pen which had black ink. Somehow I have fascination of this color over blue when it comes to writing. And I always scored good marks with it, so I do not think black is unlucky or unfortunate.

The night also black robes the color black, night brings rest, calmness and coolness with it. Many people are afraid of being in pitch dark. I know people who panic when the electric supply goes off in their own house at night and when it is dark around. Maybe this fear is rooted somewhere in the childhood and didn’t fade away with age and experience.

Black is also associated with ghosts, evil spirits, darkness, death in the Indian culture, but in the Japanese culture, Black is associated with honor, not death, while the white color is associated with death.

The black belt is a mark of achievement and seniority in many martial arts. Black tea or black coffee is relished by many in this world.

Black comedy is a form of comedy dealing with morbid and serious topics.  The black sheep of the family is the ne'er-do-well. Blackmail is the act of threatening to reveal information. Black market is used to denote the trade of illegal goods. A blacklist is a list of undesirable persons or entities. A black cat is known to bring ill luck, but my host mother in Germany has 4 black cats and she is doing extremely well!

These are a few expressions which are associated with the word black, which are not very encouraging, isn’t it?

But it still does not stop me from appreciating this color in its various forms.

What do you associate “black” with?