According to the advertisements she should have been 3 shades fairer by now. If only for once they told the truth. She’d tried all her grandmother’s recipes of milk, honey, lemon juice and what not. None of it had worked.
She turned 25 in September. If she didn’t find a match soon, the only eligible men would be divorcees and widowers. Her father would never hear of it.
To add to her troubles, societal norms said Ajay and Priya couldn’t get married until she, the elder sister was settled.
She looked at her dusky reflection and sighed…
Life wasn’t fair.
thecontradictoryoptimist
100words-Over 100stories-More than 100days 
great depiction of pressure on people, and this this instance on women, to
buckle to racial notion, familial rules and societal prescriptions. Sad and excellent little story.
Thanks
Are we talking about a fair complexion? Back in the 1920s my Dad’s sister would roll up in a sheet and lie under the bed to keep her skin as snow-white as possible. A complete opposite of today’s idea of beauty.
Society can be fickle with all its rules. Nicely written. I look forward to reading more of your work.
I was talking about a fair complexion but more about how we’re never happy with what we have. In your side of the world women go to such lengths to get the perfect tan and here we frown upon our naturally tanned skin tone.
I hope you like more of my work 🙂
Of course, in Some societies, women aren’t happy until they are the color of an Oomp Loompa – so this works well as a stand alone sketch and as a gangway to wider discourse.
Wow. My mom’s older sisters were in a similar situation, I think. 😀
Not quite your style, but it’s a valid slice of life. I just wondered if you could take the same beginning, but put a sting in the tail……..
interesting thought… added to the to do list