On the seventh day, of course, she is seen bounding with unmatched joy, ready to indulge in the seven deadly sins across the seven continents.)But wait, today, men are proud feminists too. It usually starts with the girl worried, pensive and full of self-doubt.We’ve seen these ads for years now. Also, does anyone know how many fair scientists did the team that sent the shuttle in space have The writer is an author, film writer and a Mumbaikar. Somehow, in advertising, caste, creed, language, religion doesn’t matter — the only speed-breaker in the path of glory is your skin colour, the only deal-breaker is fairness. No matter how dark you are it reduces the melanin content with ingredients that know they have only seven days to do it. She’s a dark girl who can’t land a job (again, guys seem to be sailing through interviews). Not more. So advertising was given another task: to glam it up. Sadly, we’ll just have to wait a long time for advertising to raise its standards. Till she meets the seven day cream. The girl goes to meet her friend. He, of course, gives the perfect take and flashes his range of four expressions. Colleges assuring campus placements are just probably going to distribute fairness creams on graduation day. As she sits lost, her mother, father, sister and friend gives her a fairness cream. Heck, we’ve even sent our Wholesale Grinding machine Manufacturers space shuttle and gotten our own GPS. While foreigners sprawl on beach-recliners to get that all elusive tan, we have built ourselves a 2,500-crore industry of fairness products. And so is happiness.India is changing, we are told. The latest one shows a dad suggesting marriage to his daughter first thing in the morning (that’s not the absurd part). Have fair skin; will give job.Fairness ads border on the absurd.

A moment’s silence for feminism that died in 60 seconds. He notes that things have changed in Bollywood — it’s no longer the stuntman, but the hero who does the action himself.But fairness is too boring. We do not demand for covers in rock shows. Strangely, it is usually only girls who have a fairness problem at hand.In an age where we weigh our self-esteem and karma in likes and shares, instant-gratification is key. The friend astonishingly pulls out a fairness cream and while handing it to her says "kuch nahi kar sakti toh yeh le, shaadi kar le". She comes home depressed, wondering what’s wrong. "Mein job karna chahti hu" becomes "mein job karna chahti thi". Miraculously, she manages to get an interview with the same company and this time gets the job. Of course he’s a modern dad, he’s seeing possible matches on his iPad. Applies it. But one assuring glance from the well wisher is all it takes for her to use it. As luck would have it, her friend is much fairer (almost every fairness cream ad features a fairer friend who is carrying the fairness cream in her purse — as if they were just waiting to be asked). She now has everything she ever wanted. But look around and you see it is true in some measure. Clearly, beauty isn’t skin deep, it’s shallow. One thing, however that refuses to change is our advertising. That’s why, creams guarantee you fairness in exactly seven days. Guys somehow do not need to get fairer (of course, Fair and Handsome thought otherwise, but that’s for later). If Indian advertising is to be believed, Darwin had it wrong: "The fairest survive. The girl is desperate, though doubtful. Flowers bloom. Why bother with degrees and recommendation letters. The dad asks, "Why He’s found her a surgeon, who is 6’2. (The numbers vary, of course. The girl protests: she wants to do a job first." Not just survive, thrive.) They call it "fairness ka naya standard".

The ad has her show seven ascending expressions of happiness, each for the seven days. Skies clear. (Strangely, the packaging is black. She uses the cream." What else could she possibly want Have his children, already. Somehow, everyone else chooses to wear dull greys while she stands out in pinks and reds. Almost all of us have a phone. She has a job to land, for god’s sake. It ended with walking the red carpet, of course. And hired Yami Gautam to step up for it. The girl grows fairer, starts wearing pink and tells her dad she’s ready to marry — but after three years — because she needs that time to match the boy’s qualifications — all spoken through subtly with a reference of height. And hence there is Fair and Lovely with magnet action. But, of course, your face pays the price sometimes. (Courtesy today’s government, we are told that every eight minutes on radio with what seems to a never-ending campaign). At hand was fairness cream with a "make-upwala look". This very girl, before using the cream was an underachiever, a loser, a loner and maybe even constipated. And it’s a miracle — her life starts changing — her dresses become brighter, her room is bigger, there is a spring in her step, the music changes to soft and happy, and it’s not even particularly sunny that day (though armed with the cream, she doesn’t seem like she cares).) But according to ads, fairness can get you anything. Why settle for just fairness when you can have the whole package (The debate of whether celebrities should be responsible for what they endorse hadn’t raged when this ad came around in 2015. So how could they be behind And enter Sidharth Malhotra, who is dodging bullets on a film set. Not less. The girl has a very thoughtful, deep expression on her face like she remembered where she left her sunglasses on her last Manali trip. It’s just not working out for her.

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