Natasha Suri Instagram – I have had a very interesting relationship with skin colour & beauty, throughout my life. I was born to a loving South Indian mother & a North Indian Punjabi father. My lovely sisters were pink n peaches in complexion, except me. Being the dusky dark skinned lanky child amongst the fair & pretty siblings in my family, I suffered from valid low self esteem issues stemming out my colour complex. Whether its the neighbourhood or school, its common in our surroundings to get mocked/teased about being dark. Its common knowledge that most Indians are obsessed with fair skin, & the word beautiful is mostly attached with it. You have to have ‘evolved’ tastes to appreciate duskiness here. So did I feel beautiful as a child? No. Did I ever have the confidence that I could be a beauty queen/actress? Nope. Did I wish it deep down though? Yes. Did I feel that I fit into the social mould of beauty? Nope. Did I still build myself up mentally & emotionally with self development & self motivation? Yesss. Never had I imagined that this same duskiness would become my asset in my career when I grow up. For a girl who never felt beautiful in her childhood/teens due to society’s beauty parameters & how it affected her self confidence, it’s ironical that I happened to become a ‘Beauty Queen’ by winning the Miss India World title. Nature has its own strange ways to build you up. Ofcourse, I groomed myself a lot in my following years & strived to be a finessed version of myself, with time. But at heart, I’m still that awkward dusky girl, who now feels unique & strong in her skin though. To every woman/man who has ever felt insecured, underconfident & unappreciated due to her skin colour, I want to say, that it is your job first to love & validate yourself. Dont believe anyone who doesn’t believe in you. Persevere towards your dreams with resilience of steel. No one else may believe in you as much as you need to believe in yourself, so do it with all your might. And hang in there till you win. I applaud this welcome change adopted by the brand ‘Fair & Lovely’. India is truly beautiful, in it’s skin & soul. Let’s celebrate us & our INDIAN-NESS!❤️ #natashasuri #actor #DuskyAndLovely