I, Consumer

It is when they see all these glitzy, glamorous and at times, sing along ads, that they come to know of the existence of a product.

In the 80`s and 90s when I was growing up there was only one channel. The 3 commercials which I can never forget:

1. Rafan Jelly Crystals - This featured some happy children and their mother making green, yellow and orange jello. I dont think there was a song but this commercial had a huge impact on me and my whole family because whenever we had custard my mother would add Rafan Jelly crystals to it along with cake and Fiesta and pineapple and it was really good.

2. Kiwi Shoe Polish - This one had a song which a very attractive school teacher with long black shiny hair who sang a question to her students: ``Pyare Bacho Kivi Kya hai?`` and then the children and I would sing back: ``Kivi ek parinda hai.. Kivi ek Parinda hai..`` But somehow they made this transition to shoe polish.

3. Life Insurance Policy: This one was weird but the song was very catchy. It featured a girl singing: Aye Khuda Mere Abu Salamat Rahain...`` And then after her song there was this mention that just in case her prayer is not answered there is always life insurance policy that will keep your orphan children singing after you are gone. I found that a bit disturbing but it was catchy.

Hopefully the future parents can brighten up their children due to modern Genetic TECH. When done on mass scale it may be far cheaper than and poor people can also afford. Even if its costly it may be cost effective in long term. Fairer looking people get good treatment and better job prospects. At this time may be only rich can afford to brighten up children but tech on mass sacle make things very cheap. Just 25 years ago very few people have even desk phone but now many has cell phone. Modern technology can make miracle.
Good morning and good luck.

Fair & lovely sponsors many of the pak india cricket matches specifically ....is it b/c pakistani hate darker dravidians of south india?

Cricketers, entertainers, even brides and grooms should start wearing those old Radiohead T-Shirts which said ``Im not a target market.`` :).
Good one Farheen. The NS5s galore alright.

Fair skinned , tall and HENCE handsome!! Isn`t this is the seed of apartheid that is implicit in the attitude of most of the Paki and Indi idiots!!!

Re:shah2

[.......is it b/c pakistani hate darker dravidians of south india?...]

Is that so? I thought Pakistanis hate the fair skinned, tall, aryan brahmins and rajputs in North India as their rivals.

What is so very shameful about product advertisement in Pakistan is the extensive use of western models. It is as if a white and blonde person gives a certain prestige and credibility to that product that a brown cannot. The amazing part is that these products are being promoted to a brown population. Why must a shampoo ad in Pakistan use European models? Why would I be more inclined to drink milk if I watched a blonde man drinking it too on TV? Is there a hidden hope in my mind that by drinking milk being promoted by that blonde man, I too will become like him – muscular, tall, blonde, white and operating a yacht in clear blue waters?

Sadly, advertisement agencies know their market. And so they know that our population is enslaved to the supremacy of a particular skin tone. They build their ads to tease the inferiority complexes ingrained in our very being. White is success, black is failure. The new MBA advertising manager in Pakistan who suggests using black models to promote a skin moisturizer in Pakistan will not only be quickly shown the door, he might also be shot at as he leaves.

Fair&Lovely is the most obscene example of our slave mentality and complexes. On my recent trip to Pakistan, I skimmed through a glossy copy of ``Youth`` magazine, which is geared towards Pakistani teens. At the back cover of that magazine was the full page ad of Fair&Lovely. Apparently Fair&Lovely was making trips to more than 250 colleges and universities in Pakistan , promoting successful life through fair skin under the shameless guise of providing educational scholarships to girls! What a shame!

Since most of the purchasing power for such products rests in the hands of a tiny affluent middle to upper-middle class, it is fair to say this class promotes such shamelessness rather than the ad makers who merely respond to market demand. It is a pity that this is the educated class as well!

a case for euthanasia


ahmedmadani sahib,

well said!....... all these people bit*%ing and moaning about the universally accepted standards of beauty are lazy and ugly people who are not willing to put in the hard work required to improve their looks and miserable lives .......... next thing you know, they will be claiming that fat is beautiful and women with moustaches should be allowed to appear in public .......

......... the fact of the matter is that -as you have so eloquently stated before- white (milky, i think you call it) is beautiful and black is ... well, black is black ........ i remember many years ago when my mother saw an african-american for the first time she clucked her tongue, shook her head sadly and said,`` becharay, allah taala nay in logon kay saath kitna zulum kiya hai`` ........ she was a kind hearted woman and really felt bad for people who had been treated so unfairly by god ..........

........ but now that we have chemicals and lasers and all sorts of science available to correct god`s shoddy handiwork, we should do what we can ......... most civilized people are doing it - millions and millions of chinese are getting their eyes fixed, most african american women have their hair straightened (can you think of any african american celebrity with kinky hair?), fat people are getting liposuction, women with moustaches are getting laser treatments, most men (other than desis) get their ear and nasal hair removed, people born with the mike tyson nose are opting for the nicole kidman look, flat chested women are taking advantage of the ``buy one get one free`` offers by plastic surgeons ............ and why not ! ......... there is no virtue in looking ugly if you can do something about it .........

.......of course there are some people, specially our less fortunate neighbors who live on the wrong side of the border, who are beyond repair ............. they make a good case for euthanasia .........

Re: # 7
Mr.Malik natural things are not shameless but it is wrong to say like that it is socially not correct in hypocrite world.
Now will you keep in mind being equal its better to be fair. Now I think peole can give all high thinking talks , people must be watched in their preference in life means marriage related things. Now colorcomplexion is overpowering thing. I have been told by people who had gone to usa and africa even dark women hope children are little lighter so thay have better life. And mothers love for children is greatest and pure.
Even people prefer white cat than dark cat and dark cat is considerd as evil cat. White cat can be seen in dark and they look good. I have two cats both white as milk. And people have asked me if they can white cat babies. I have to tell them I am not breeder of cats . I have fixed female cat so she keeps her beauty and has not to suffer and have litters one after other.
Now tell me any of our big well to powerful men and women marry darker spouces. Now unfortunately women have to make compromise and marry dark as otherwise they will be killed by relatives. Only men and women marry darker spouce if they are quite rich or famous and very very beautiful. Now if you are beautiful and dark you are photogenic in black and white photography. Obviously photographer must be artist rather than technician.Now there are extremely handsome men and women who are dark. Once somebody published here beautiful picture some indian activist Nandita Das she is dark as coal but she was best picture of female ethos. Now our pakistan men and women go to usa and marry wrong colored (white race) people. Most marry ugly white person but they will never married dark skinned African man or woman as Prof . Masadi explained many times they are oppressed people as general people have come to conclusion dark color is not good. Now if Imaran Khan or Mr.Rajiv Gandhi had married real african dark woman there would hardly be admiration for both them and their wives but contempt. Now cinema producer is putting money on line so he knows what is liked so they choose to make all people as much white as possible. Did you note most bad characters are dark skinned and rough looking.
Every man wants to marry their daughter to little man and everybody becomes happy if man is fairer than woman. Generally its quite easy for whiter man and woman to get married than dark being all equal.
Fortunately now modern high tech in this matter will solve problems as people can brighten skins as desired in next 30 years.
Now there is something wrong to apply color and appear fairer? Also its business and people are employed. I think people should be allowed do whatever they want so they feel they look better. Now I am old fashioned person but even I had to all my daughter lipstick, compromise.

I have not seen I, Robot. Is that why the point of the article escapes me?

and now....an ad from our chowk sponsors:

write a stupid post on chowk a day!!
chowk kaalay rang nooN gora karay!!
tay goray rang nooN chan warghaa!!

:-)

.......... this should solve the problem:




`Embryo Bank` Stirs Ethics Fears
Firm Lets Clients Pick Among Fertilized Eggs

By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 6, 2007; Page A01

A Texas company has started producing batches of ready-made embryos that single women and infertile couples can order after reviewing detailed information about the race, education, appearance, personality and other characteristics of the egg and sperm donors.

The Abraham Center of Life LLC of San Antonio, the first commercial dealer making embryos in advance for unspecified recipients, was created to help make it easier and more affordable for clients to have babies that match their preferences, according to its founder.

Ahmedmadani and Hamidm sahib – The standard of beauty and power has been ingrained in our minds thanks to being colonized until only a few decades ago. By white men. Yes it is true that being a white male in today’s world is an invaluable asset. You can be of average smarts, but people in East Asia, South Asia and Africa will treat you like royalty. In corporate world, you will have to exert less effort to prove your mantle than a similarly skilled brown skinned boy or even a white woman.

So if you are suggesting that we do away with undesirable traits like dark skin tone via surgery and other courses that new technology has afforded us, then may I suggest that we also find a cure for feminine specie as well. Women, regardless of whether they are white or black, earn far less than a man in ALL societies, including European and American........and in many eastern cultures they are considered a drain on resources.

Wouldn’t you agree then that Indian men are following through with your line of thought by not only selecting to mate with only fair skinned women, but also eliminating weaker sex in favor of stronger sex?

Let there be only white men in this world......for they are the ones who are truly blessed. The rest of us, including white women, are here to serve them.

Re: # 8

lolz. well said.

Re: # 9

``Now our pakistan men and women go to usa and marry wrong colored (white race) people``

um, was wondering where in the Qu`ran was it written that there is a wrong and right colored race of people?

....I lke Nandita Das more than Saira Banu any day
and for the less knowledgebale,Nandita is not only correct in her oulook but also look ...which is unlike western model or the arrogant persian descent aryans....

#14 by saminasha2 on January 6, 2007 10:09am PT
Re: # 9

``Now our pakistan men and women go to usa and marry wrong colored (white race) people``

um, was wondering where in the Qu`ran was it written that there is a wrong and right colored race of people?
[Reply to interact #14]

---

Now what else can traffic stuck in one way traffic say...???

Shah2: are you saying that hamidm is stuck in a traffic jam?

#17 I know samina more intimately than Hamid....

Re: # 17

right tahmed, i was just trying to figure out whether the Qu`ran supports hierarchies based on color (because we know in some ways, the concept of race is meaningless)...to my knowledge, it has not....

#19 saminasha: dont take hamidm at his word. He just likes to annoy people by talking about white bread being better than brown bread or black bread.

Re: # 20

tahmed,

i know hamid is joking, thanks! :)

Re:hamidm#8

[............ the fact of the matter is that -as you have so eloquently stated before- white (milky, i think you call it) is beautiful and black is ... well, black is black .......]

So whats all that baloney that you guys throw at us about Islam being color blind and the Prophet treating all races equally?

When we brahmins protect our white skin via the caste system, you guys pile on us all the time....

#23
When we brahmins protect our white skin``????????????


I am sure there might be more dark brahmins than milky white ones....there r brahmin Oriya,south indians Marathi ...millions of them

fair doesn`t necessarily mean lovely, just look at Dubya, even Jessie Jackson has lips

Re:shah2#24

[..I am sure there might be more dark brahmins than milky white ones....there r brahmin Oriya,south indians Marathi ...millions of them....]

Yeah, but I am a Sindhi brahmin. So you bet we have fair skin.

Anyway, I was just kidding around with hamidm....

Re: # 26
I thought all the Sindhi brahmins were killed..or almost all!

I have a vested interest in this-you mention Unilever and a close family member is very high up in the company. While working in India,we would talk about Fair and Lovely-he was very proud of it-it only does so well because it works, he`d say. I don`t think the company is responsible for the light skinned obsession. Indians have always used natural products-sandalwood powder, almond oil, uptan, etc both to improve their skins and to lighten them. I don`t even think it is as much of an obsession as it was 20 or 30 years ago, btw.

Re: # 27
The last Ruler Dhair was slaughtered b y MO bin kassim and his queens and daughter were taken to Damascus and due to some misunderstanding about sexual affairs with royals women, ruler of Damascus slaughtered Mo Bin. Dahir was Brahmin king and name of Capital was Brahmanabad. Budhist supported MO Bin and after he took care of yellow robed hindus also.
There something called Bhaiband. Most Sindhis know more classify related to places from where they came from. There are efforts going to capture tourist potential of Rich hindis specially new generation if they want visit place called Sindh which had Sindhi language as LinguaFranca. Now Karachi and hyderbad both are Urdu speaking and Sindhis retreating from 1947 and it appears they are loosing one citadel after another. Most so called sindhis are poor ``red Indians`` of sindh. ( Even sukkar, even Bhuttos places are under demographical metamorphism. They are not match for dynamic MQM followers and Punjabis has more Interest in MQM than sindhis as now Sindhis have MQM Governer. Its cruel world and dosile people are left behind. Most of Sindhis who lived in Karachi were Hindus and most educated of Sindhis. Sindhis made mistake by cutting or decapatting intelluctual class by ousting and they got what desired and are suffer and will suffer for recklessness combined with simplton attitude. Its history Sindhis are nothing in Sindh where it counts- Karachi.

Re: # 29
Sindh has MQM governer medical doctor who was wanted for little things like, frightening people , killing etc but he became Kosher after MQM helped general and general rewarded. Punjabi and MQM is controlling ``govt`` and army has god sent part which controls Karach and hyderbad so Sindhi nationalist can not have such say in Largest city. If in future (which I doubt) if Jiye sindh starts trouble Karachi will be supporter of Army and Punjab interests. The demographic situation just like Russian Enlave of Kaliningrad which surrounded by baltic republic. It is possible in future new province for ``new Sindhis`` like strip joining Karachi and sindh and urdu speaking. No body knows these things only fate decides such thing and many times simple little things.

Re: # 28
NB this multinationalhas created that butteriing poison called ``Dalda`` . More people must have died by cosuming so called ``Vanspati``. Millions must have died eating that stuff and pouring hydrogeneted in their blood vains. Instead of G man ot J man multinational need to be forced atleast publish warning og stuff like of smoking products. But this good MNC and gives all other products of good Quality.
I have accounting question. Unilever heard is largest corp in this in Pakistan and India. Then wonder revenue of Indian Pakistani groups more than parent company in ``ton` of product sold ?
I neveer touched that poison or allowed to be used and had very hard time but as head of house one should not allow any body indulge in such bad food.

Re: # 8
My cats has really become obase. I tried diet on them but they do not like healthy food, they just do not look at healthy food.. Just like for people whatever is good taste bad to them. But cats do not look bad like fat people they just look healthy and little fluffy and fortunately they loose and heirs and weight in summer and it happens every time. Can any Vet why this happens. Thanks in advance.

Re: # 8
Sir you are always right I think except you feeling about liquid refreshments and tonics.
I again say Liquior is poisnoius than Cobra venom.

I think the central idea of this article is:

`` Band kero yeh fahashi.......``

The central point of this article is, as pointed out very correctly by malikjahanzeb, band karo yeh fahashi.

Ads are one of the most powerful tools of communication. My objection is at what these ads are communicating to the public. Why show something which the majority of people cannot relate to? The Olwell ad was what triggered me to write this piece. An ad that shows everything to a country where most of the people live below the poverty line and thus, cannot relate to it. Even those who can actually afford Olwell, the middle class of this country, lead lives that are very remote from what is depicted in the ad. And as far as those people are concerned who actually lie such a lifestyle, well they are a niche. And you don`t show your ad 24/7 on all channels if you are engaging in niche marketing.

There are many such ads, talkshawk being another one, that is revolting because it makes a mockery of consumer IQ. The sad part is that most of these people in MNCs are graduates of good universities and a vast majority belong to the middle class. Yet, when it comes to making ads, they either make something absolutely outrageous or copy from India.

Ofcourse, there is some brilliant work being done out there as well. MCB Visa, as mentioned in the article is one such example. The UBL Islamic Banking campaign is also an example of good marketing. The message of the ad is simple, everyone can use Islamic Banking and this is put forward in a brilliant tagline, ``Main bhi Ameen hoon``. And they don`t use any western models.

We need to ensure, somehow, that these marketers out there know that they can`t just keep on fooling us. Consumerism is creeping in our society and killing our values. It`s about time we raise our voice against it. Otherwise our future generations will never understand the true value of money. They don`t understand it even now, what with young business graduates flashing their credit cards everywhere and thinking they are the epitome of success.

The focus of this article was not Fair&Lovely.

Farheen Zehra

The worst are the cigarette ads. Which sell people lung cancer by packaging the cancer-causing agent with healthy activities like sports.

But in general I agree - these ads actually promote stupid notions of ``beauty`` that many pakistanis have. And yet can never explain why billions (and several hours every month by many people) in the west by people trying to tan themselves to brown. Nor can they explain why black women are as much in demand as white women in the world of high fashion.

The fact is (contrary to what hamidm seems to think) that a healthy body and mind is what makes a person attractive. By detracting from this important point, ads in Pakistan (and elsewhere) work to the detriment of the health of the population.

in #36 the reference to hamidm is an attempt to get him to write another one of his interesting posts on this board. Not necessarily to just pick on him. :-)

tahmed,

....... you are never going to get me to back down from my position that white, specially with a nice tan, is more beautiful than black ....... it has got nothing to do with colonial politics as malik suggested, it is all about aesthetics .......... i know it is not politically correct to say such things - specially when ms saminasha is around - but it is the goddamn truth and no amount of denial is going to make the truth go away ......... i don`t care how healthy a body and mind you have, if you look like gandhiji nobody is going to bed with you, unless you can talk a poor niece into it ...........

Re: # 35

farheen,

``Consumerism is creeping in our society and killing our values. It`s about time we raise our voice against it.``

.......... do you even realize how dumb that sounds ! ........ if consumers don`t consume, producers won`t produce and we will all be back in our mud huts with our `values` .......... and why do you have to raise your voice - why don`t you simply not buy the product that you don`t like ?......... the folks in advertising are simply doing their job by trying to sell their client`s product - if the product is harmful or illegal than the government should regulate it .........

.........this article is a piece of garbage and has nothing to do with advertising or marketing or product liablity ....... you are simply trying to push your islamist political agenda and seventh century morality down our throat ........... if we let you have your way all we will have is mullahs advertising maswaq and fat women in hijabs and niqabs showing off victoria`s secret lingerie ............ now, that is a disgusting thought !

Hamidm Sahib –

I always thought you were born in a wrong religion and a wrong country. But after seeing your interacts on this board, it is clear as day that you were born in wrong skin too. Maybe that explains your relentless attempts to act whiter than whites, since you could not be one physically.

You, Hamdim Sahib, are the Michael Jackson of Chowk......except that he managed to look whiter than whites and even have off-springs from white women. Whereas all you, the pseudo-white Hamdim, have to show for your whiteness are your worthless promotions of democracy, western values, and western dresses.

What a loser!

hamidm: White + Tan = Brown. :-)

You are merely associating civilized behavior and outlooks with white and primitive behavior and outlooks with black. Behavior has nothing to do with skin color.

I dont care about political correctness - which I consider to be merely a way to avoid ugly facts. Thus, while this is like saying the emperor has no clothes, the fact is that blacks seem to seeking attention in public places in the US (talking loudly in public places as if everyone around is interested in their witticisms, ignoring the customer while singing and dancing behind the cash register as if they are paid to be glamorous rather than provide service - all of which I have seen. This has nothing to do with skin color but merely an attempt at compensating for an inferiority complex resulting from a history of being treated like subhumans. Some of the most dignified blacks I have seen have been in Africa, e.g., one of whom even pointed out to me when I was visiting Africa his disgust with such behavior on the part of some american blacks. but dont confuse behavior, which in turn stems from historical circumstances, with skin color

Re: # 40

malik sahib,

Roo-e-sukhan kisi kee taraf ho to roo-siyaah
Sauda nahin, junoon nahin, vaihshat nahin mujhey

If I have made a sarcastic comment on any body my face be black
I am neither demented, nor lunatic nor savage

............. are you suggesting that ghalib was born in the wrong skin ?

Re: # 41

tahmed,

.......... i am not talking about behavior or attitude - that is a totally different discussion ........ i am simply talking about aesthetics : barack obama is better looking than charley rangle and harold ford is better looking than obama - the more white blood you have, are the better looking you get .......... it is just chemistry, for god`s sake !

........ and please don`t make me dig through ancient urdu and persian poetry to prove my point that this is a universal standard that precedes the colonial era ........

malik#40 instead of resorting to personal insults to hamidm (which say nothing about hamidm, and plenty about you) if you have a reasonable argument, present it. every man has a right to an opinion presented in a reasonable manner - and if you cant respect that, then you are just another bakra that seeks to follow the herd and cant stand to see someone you consider to be a bakra like yourself straying from the herd and so resorts to namecalling.

#43 hamidm: what is ``better looking``?? beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and your notion of beauty is way too simplistic. How else do you explain that black models are paid millions to get photographed??

#43 hamidm: and ever seen those blobs of white skin in gyms?? beautiful?? give me a break!! think ``healthy``, not ``skin color``.

tahmed # 41 writes - ``the fact is that blacks seem to seeking attention ..... (talking loudly in public places as if everyone around is interested in their witticisms, .... while singing and dancing .... as if they are paid to be glamorous ...This has nothing to do with skin color but merely an attempt at compensating for an inferiority complex resulting from a history of being treated like subhumans``

This very much defines Hamidm`s behaviour on chowk.....he too tries to come across as being witty, as if we really care what this nigger has to say.

I had already diagnosed his behaviour to be resulting from a history of our ancestors being treated like subhumans. But I guess I am not white enough for him to take my diagnosis seriously.

#47 malik: hamidm could not, even if he wanted to, sing and dance on chowk. and in addition, he is not paid to be of service on chowk. he is here to kill some time chatting, and and if he can do this with good humor without being personally offensive, more power to him.

so, dont confuse things by comparing two very different situations.

tahmed #44 ``instead of resorting to personal insults to hamidm ``

Is comparing hamidm sahib to Michael Jackson a personal insult? Are you differentiating between who is a ``good`` white and who is a ``bad`` white?

I thought being white was all that mattered. Now I am confused.

#49 malik: confusion, by replacing certainty, is the first step towards enlightenment. :-)

time to run off to do some work. have a nice sunday my friends.

in #50, to explain why certainty is bad for you: nothing you come across in life is certain except death and taxes. and they are working on that too.

Re: # 49

malik sahib,

......... i really don`t mind you comparing me to michael jackson - the man just got a little carried away in his attempt to repair god`s shoddy workmanship ....... and regardless of the passion for boys that he shares with our turkic ancestors and bedouin prophets, he is a still a great entertainer ...........

........ i must find my copy of the baburnama to see what babur had to say about the virtues of a fair complexion and his disgust for the dark-skinned natives of india ........

I am from a south indian backward caste background.

So as people can imagine, I look brown in the morning but by evening I look dark. My american colleagues on the other hand, look fresh as ever... I honestly feel these goras don`t even need to take shower every morning ( and sometimes I had that doubt also ).

I used to use fair & lovely on myself when I was India but stopped it after coming here.

Re : hamdim2 #8, 11, 42, 43, 49

Some Pakistanis want to be Arabs, some white, some just anybody else….


Here is a case for euthanasia…..

Regards,

Faruk

I am in two minds about the concept of beauty. For example, someone here mentioned about Nandita das.. I find her very beautiful too. On the other hand, I see these goras and I feel... ohmigod, am I in heaven or something...

Re: # 55

sri,

......... i know exactly what you are talking about ..... there ARE some, but very very few, south indians and even africans who are quite attractive - but an exception does not make the rule ........... iman, nandita and aishwariya are freaks of nature but anybody who goes looking for beauty in kerala or somalia is a fool - the chances are better in sweden ..........

....... and please accept my sincere sympathies for the condition you were born into ......... make sure that you marry a fair high-caste woman so that your children will be spared the ignominy ......... good luck

Re: # 38

``it is the goddamn truth..``

rotfl, hamid sahib, when you are in true form it is brilliant sight to behold....

Re: # 43

may i point out that the great harems of the zoroastrian and middle east valued beauty in the full spectrum of hue-especially when women were valued for beauty, proficiency in court arts and the ability to reproduce male heirs. You need only to look at the great civilizations of Egypt, Mali, Songhai and Timbuktu to know that African women were valued in their cultures as the zenith of beauty, regardless of European conceptions of beauty.

Can you or would you want to imagine Naomi Campbell even a shade lighter?

Re: # 58

great harem meaning harems that contained hundreds of women in dehumanizing sexual servitude to one extremely rich male (eye roll)

and great civilization meaning fully developed in arts, sciences, literacy, socio-economic and political organization. Egypt is a case in point.

Re: # 55

you should go to Alabama and see ``white heaven`` up close and personal, the missing teeth and incest warm your heart really

Re: # 41

tahmed unkil,

because working at duane reade`s calls for the utmost decorum? After eight hours of working with us, entitled Americans who bumrush every newly opened register, have intricately detailed explanations of why we havent returned product A until 10 months after we purchased it, doddering old women who have 10 coupons and decide they dont want 11 of B product because...whatever the heck the reason is, whiny toddlers knocking boxes of eye cream over (i made my nephew pick up the boxes and put them back)...if I were working at a Duane Reade, you`d better hope I was doing whatever I could to not hang myself.....

Hamidm

Malik99 has a point... :)... looks like you are trying to be more loyal than the king... whites themselves love to get a brown skin which is why they so hanker after getting tans - even at the risk of skin cancer and what not... and here you are waxing lyrical on white skin... :)

Michale jackosn was crazy - so are you... nothing is more beautiful than the brown/dark skin... Halley Berry beats evey white woman hands down... :)

Get over it dude - you are one confused macaca...

My observation is that opposites attract.........as verified by Paula Abdul’s song of early 90s.

I have seen white men drooling over oriental girls, white men drooling over Indian girls, Indian men drooling over white girls, African men drooling over white and oriental girls, and Latin men drooling over any thing that resembles a female.

As Thomas Friedman has promised us that world is becoming flatter in terms of opportunities for becoming successful, I suspect that remnants of colonial slavery like Hamidm are a dying breed. As economic success around the world makes backward caste people like Sri realize that material riches are not the exclusive domain of whites, they too will start taking pride in who they are....

It is a side effect of colonialism that associated in our minds that whiteness is associated with riches and power.... In this day and age, movies like James Bond 007 continue to reinforce this idea in our minds that only a white man has the intelligence, quick thinking, and spice in his personality to play with a girl`s heart and enemy`s dead body at the same time. Why is it that 007 character, where as diverse people as Sean Conrey and Daniel Craig have played that role, no black man has ever been offered that role?

But the day a black lead actor will play 007 is not very far. Until then, let hamidm be hamidm.

Re: # 63

true - there is always a fascination with what each of us consider as ``exotic``...

Hamidm seems to be really bad case of ``colonial`` hangover... his obsession with white skin just doesn`t make sense... I mean - hey, I appreciate white man for all his accomplishments and what not - but I am not exactly in awe with whiteman`s skin color... white is just another color... :)

Re:mohar

[...but I am not exactly in awe with whiteman`s skin color... white is just another color... :)...]

Mohar, if there is ever an option for desis to change their race to white, how many desis will sign up? How many will sign up in the other direction? I rest my case (and hamidm`s case)...

#60 by scout(new)

`` you should go to Alabama and see ``white heaven`` up close and personal, the missing teeth and incest warm your heart really ``

That`s nitpicking man. Surely you don`t mean just because some rural american white are heavily inbred retards all white people are ugly. It is ``universally`` well known and accepted that inbreeding leads to ugliness. So no argument there.

The genetic diversity among white people is simply mind boggling. Starting from red-head Celtic to dark haired Mediterranian, you will find all kinds of hair, eyes and textures. And that is the kind of mix you will see in American cities.

saminasha: the things one learns at chowk!! i had to google to find out what this ``Duane Reade`` so I could reply without seeming ignorant. So, I see it is a pharmacy store. I remain ignorant of how Duane Reade relates to my post....even googling will not help me pretend I am not ignorant on that one, so please help.... :-(

Re: # 65
[...if there is ever an option for desis to change their race to white, how many desis will sign up?...]

I don`t know... Hamidm, for sure, will be the first one to sign up... I will never do, I am fine with my brown skin, warts and all... :)

... what about you?... you signing up?

sri #66 human beings are notable for their lack of diversity biologically speaking. to the extent it exists, genetic diversity is in fact greatest among africans. as for beauty - ``Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air”.

That smelly, fly infested, beggar woman with limbs grotesquely enlarged from elephantisis begging for a kenyan shilling could, under different circumstances, have been a beautiful phd scientist whom would even charm the socks of even a hamidm. Nothing in her genes has to do with the condition she is in.

Re:mohar#68

[..I don`t know... Hamidm, for sure, will be the first one to sign up... I will never do, I am fine with my brown skin, warts and all... :)

... what about you?... you signing up?...]

Yeah, yeah, we all know about desi pride and all that BS, even if it means giving up on being a C level exec in a corporation or bedding beautiful blondes. Now you will say that all that is possible being a desi, except that the probability is a hundredth as compared to being a white.

Anyway, speaking of racial transformation, here is a joke for u -

A young, hot, blonde guy finds a magic lamp. Upon rubbing it a genie appears. The genie gives him 3 wishes.

First the blond guy asks for ten million dollars and gets it. Then he asks for a beautiful blond girlfriend and he gets that too. Now he is totally confused about what else to ask for.

Finally he says, ``I am a Mechanical Engineering undergrad student and want a 4.0 GPA``. The genie says - ``Done!!``. And the blonde guy turns into a chinese. :-)

Re: # 70

What ``desi pride``?... there is no such thing called ``desi pride``... all I am saying is - I am fine with being brown, with all the negatives goes with it... white race may be better than my race - so what?... that doesn`t mean I need/want to switch my race... I mean - given an option, would you switch your parents for ``better`` ones?... it`s that simple.... it has nothing to do with any ``pride``...

Why does everything on chowk have to be politically correct ???

Hamidm really has a point here and the way he has tried to explain it ``must`` impress all and sundry... (the comment about looking like gandhiji and talking a niece to bed had me laughing hysterically)...

And the point someone made about all these white people spending billions for a tan... the answer could be: ``the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence``... but the fact remains that when these people go out for a tan, they don`t actually want to come back looking like Kofi Annan or Condoleeza Rice...

Some people may like darker tones of skin - and everybody has a right to opinion - but conduct a survey any day of the week and white will well and truly come out on top.... and for heaven`s sake, white has got nothing to do with our colonial masters (who are, more often than not, pale-dead white), it`s fair skin that we`re talking about... Fair & Lovely does not get you an EU passport, it just gives you a fairer skin...

and coming back to the ``actual`` point of article... the ads are only intended to sell the products and (please) they also don`t have to be politically correct !!!

I don`t like the new Olwell`s ad much but the first ad for Olpers milk (btw Olpers is the ``parent`` milk of Olwell) was awesome... and the sheer `enormity` of the ad (with all the who`s who of Pakistani modelling industry) made me believe that this product must be good... mission accomplished....

and this flesh-flashing and stuff - it`s what the consumers demand and it`s a simple case of meeting their demands

P.S.: I am not white but I ain;t no Kofi Annan either...

P.S.A.: I don`t use Fair & Lovely

Re: # 70

And speaking of being an executive and bedding a blonde - I can be brown and still be an executive, just as numerous desis have been... and I have no fascination for blondes... like I said - halley berry beats every white woman hands down... :).... seriously, personally - I have always found desi women much more desirable than any other... in terms of color, beauty and personality... :)

that`s just me... now, you and hamidm go along and get blondes for yourselves...

Re: # 72

Who said anything on chowk is politically correct?... political correctness and chowk are as far apart as possible...

Most of the serial killers in America have been `white colored` ALSO

Re:mohar#73

[... and I have no fascination for blondes... like I said - halley berry beats every white woman hands down... :)......]

Lahoulwilaquat (or a hindu version of that)!! This is like saying that you prefer immigrating to Sri Lanka instead of USA. :-)

Seriouly dude, dont give up on blondes. They are hard to attain but not impossible. ;-)

PPl like blondes B/c they (blondes) are too dumb to know how they are exploited both as women and as objectified sex thing

Hamid Sahib,

Were none of Pakistan`s artists influenced by Shakespeare`s Dark Lady of the Sonnets? arguably the muse of his most profound work?


Dark as an Ethiope is high praise coming from the Bard:


``My mistress` eyes are nothing like the sun``


My mistress` eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips` red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask`d, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak,--yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress when she walks, treads on the ground;
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

famous ``black`` people who are NOT black .......

it has always seemed rather odd to me that people always say that tiger woods is black - he is not !.......... as far as i am concerned, he is the best thai golfer in the world

.... and neither is tyra banks, halle barry, denzel washington or the grey-eyed harold ford ......... mike tyson ? definitely black ..........

........ look, the sooner you folks get over this confusion, the sooner you can figure out how to improve your gene pool ......... i will be eternally grateful to my father, a punjabi with a `wheatish` complexion and ordinary bania looks inherited from grandpa gopinath, for having the foresight to marry a pashtun with good durrani genes .......... it might not have done much for my intellect, but it certainly has saved me a lot of pain and suffering and allowed me to hold my head up high in public .........not to mention the anguish that other people would have had to suffer from looking at me across the dinner table ..........

......... and i am definitely not saying that all white people are good looking - there are people like prince charles, his sister, his wife and his cousin benny hill ........ but, even at their worst they are better on the eyes than a gaggle of gujjus who have been marrying their first cousins for ten generations

Re: # 78

saminasha,

no, but here is what khushal khan khattak said about his love :

there is a boy across the river, whose bum is like a peach
alas i cannot swin

like the great khan, bard was a pervert !

Re: # 76

Dude - I know it`s hard for you to believe, but I have no fascination for blondes... I like my woman the way I like my coffee - dark and delicious.... not bleached and bland... :)

Where is hamidm anyway?...

Re: # 79

you are one confused macaca... :)

5 years ago, almost to the date, a wise person had THIS to say about hamidm
some self gloss is in order here: none of you dumbos saw thru the nazi like I did :)

#79 It takes a village.....

Another attempt at reforming hamidm: your talk about superior ``pathan genes`` and inferior ``panjabi genes`` is a common pathan conceit that I noticed among some otherwise perfectly sensible pathans. A pathan guy married to a panjabi woman he met in a college in Lahore, now an ageing guy, talks the same way. He told me he was thrilled that his son picked a peshawar girl and not a lahore girl - and was a bit confused when i asked him if he had gone to pick a girl or a bakra. but anyway...

Despite all this talk of genetic superiority, pathan men marry panjabi women in droves and vice versa, and you are merely an example of the product of one such marriage. So what gives? Are pathans men stupid that they let go of their superior genes and blue eyes and white skins to marry plain brown eyed, dark skinned panjabi women? Are pathan women stupid for the same reason?

lot of puzzlement here.. perhaps you know the answer

#83 ali: we need someone to sing ``springtime for Hitler`` on chowk too.

``)...if I were working at a Duane Reade, you`d better hope I was doing whatever I could to not hang myself.....``

Load of crap...Asians work in 7-11s all the time and still remain polite..heck, I used to work at Cumberland Farms where the bul of the clientele was food stamp carrying blacks who were also the biggest shop lifters..yet, we carried on..worked for an honest dollar. So do thousands of other Asian Americans especially from South Asia..

Oh yeah, on the looks, Malik99 and his ``colonial theories`` are a load of bunkum..dunno about Bangladeshi types but amongst us Punjabis fairer is better looking than dark skin...if u are the daddy of a dark skinned girl, better start saving for dowry of a car, a Bang Olufsen music system and the like..fathers of gori daughters can give a Bajaj scooter.

Re: # 86

stuka,

........ thanks for your support ........ unfortunately, grandpa gopinathe`s genes have played a cruel trick on me i will have start saving for dowry of a car, a bang olufsen music system and the like, in addition to the bajaj scooter ........

#63 by malik99 on January 7, 2007 12:59pm PT


My observation is that opposites attract


Then why are pakis attracted to goats?

#86 stuka: shoplifters, like the goods they shoplift, come in all colors.

ask hamidm about this pathan political leader`s white pathan wife and the nature of the goods she was caught shoplifting by one of Masadi`s Evil Empire Security Guards at a british department store (I would let you know the nature of the goods she shoplifted, but this is a family website....)

as for skin color, do you know how the term ``blue blood`` (which is how european nobility were referred to) came about? due to dark skinned moors being the head honchos in muslim spain. File this one under ``Questions Hamidm Failed to Answer`` along with other previously asked questions like the thriving business in tanning saloons and people risking skin cancer on beaches and so forth.

#88 paki-obsessed monkey man is here!!

that was a great attempt at being funny!! keep it up, and another 100 years you may actually be able to tell a joke without forgetting the punch line.

#12 by malik99 on January 6, 2007 9:13am PT


The standard of beauty and power has been ingrained in our minds thanks to being colonized until only a few decades ago. By white men. Yes it is true that being a white male in today’s world is an invaluable asset. You can be of average smarts, but people in East Asia, South Asia and Africa will treat you like royalty.


So you measure your own worth by what others think of you...you might have made it in life but if a bunch of rednecks call you a n-word, then your self-worth in your own eyes is reduced?

That`s your inferiority complex...the real consequence of colonization..

#91 wow. that was almost non-rubbish. and monkey man forgot to howl ``paki paki`` at the end.

isn`t the popular saying amongst western females.......``once you go black, you never go back``

Re: # 89

tahmed,

..... give it a rest !......... the fact of the matter is that even though a pasty/pale white can be `improved` with sun tanning, it is still better than being as dark as sin ! ......... i know, i know, hazrat bilal was black and all that, but that`s what landed him in slavery in the firsty place ........ it is not a lot of fun being dark skinned - ask any j2ee slave from kerala ........

Re: # 94

.............or just ask arjun .......

#92 by tahmed32 on January 7, 2007 6:33pm PT


paki paki...

now quit stalking me...

Re:hamidm#87

[.........thanks for your support ........ unfortunately, grandpa gopinathe`s genes have played a cruel trick on me.......]

Hamidm unkil, where is Mrs. Hamidm from - gopinath or non-gopinath stock? Looks like you let your abbajan down. At least he improved the gene pool. You should have gone for a gori blonde or at least iranian/turkish types to build up on the good job that your abbajan did.

``........ unfortunately, grandpa gopinathe`s genes have played a cruel trick on me i will have start saving for dowry of a car, a bang olufsen music system and the like, in addition to the bajaj scooter ........
``

that is rather unfortunate..especially if you come from the right side of the border. Oh well, u can always marry her off to a Malabari Muslim...fairness is always relative..

``You need only to look at the great civilizations of Egypt, Mali, Songhai and Timbuktu to know that African women were valued in their cultures as the zenith of beauty, regardless of European conceptions of beauty. ``

Actually, they were prized for the zenith of their booty rather than beauty..

``Mohar, if there is ever an option for desis to change their race to white, how many desis will sign up? How many will sign up in the other direction? I rest my case (and hamidm`s case)...
``

HAHAHA...true.

Case in point, how many desis consider it a compliment if they are mistaken for Italian..how many desis consider it a compliement if they are mistaken for Nigerian?

Airport battles some Muslim cabbies

Thu Jan 4, 12:20 PM ET

Officials at Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport are proposing stiffer penalties — including suspension of an airport taxi license — to Muslim cab drivers who refuse service to passengers toting alcohol or service dogs.

But Hassan Mohamud, imam at Al-Taqwa Mosque of St. Paul and director of the Islamic Law Institute at the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, one of the largest Islamic organizations in the state, said asking Muslims to transport alcohol ``is a violation of their faith. Muslims do not consume, carry, sell or buy alcohol, and Islam also considers the saliva of dogs to be unclean, he said.

#99 Stuka {``Actually, they were prized for the zenith of their booty rather than beauty..``}

Stuka,
No doubt. The sistas have the best booty.

Tahmed Chacha likes his women the way he likes his coffee - black and strong.

#84 {``Are pathans men stupid that they let go of their superior genes and blue eyes and white skins to marry plain brown eyed, dark skinned panjabi women?``}


No one has even accused Pathans of being brilliant. Even much wiser men, e.g. Sardarjis, have been duped in Hira Mandi.

{``Ads promote and shape certain values. Fair&Lovely has been forever promoting the concept that only fair skin women have the best in life. ``}

Farheen,
Good article and you have made your point well. Despite what we Muslims, especially those from India and Pakistan, there is definitely a bias, even in Muslim rags, about the preference for fair skin. Just consider the matrimonials, where it is often stated:

``Proud Punjabi parents, settled in US since Civil War, seeking suitable match for tall, beautiful, and very fair 43 year old innocently divorced girl, no issue, looking for tall, handsome, and very fair Punjabi male doctor, never married, practising in the US, with own practice and solid Muslim values.``

``Then why are pakis attracted to goats?``

arjun,

for the same reason you`re attracted to pakis, you want to tie us to a tree, slice our necks, and savor our biryani, you just cant cuz it`s illegal, so let us have our goats and you can fantasize.

i never knew till i read these posts how many complexes desi men have about their skin colour. sad.

Re:sobia#107

[..i never knew till i read these posts how many complexes desi men have about their skin colour. sad...]

Really? So prior to reading this article on chowk, you had no idea about desi obsessions with the fair skin? Heck not just desis, even ABCDs know this and practice it to the fullest in terms of their dating habits. So give me a break!!

tahmed
all i can say on on this subject of skin colour is; beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

stuka/hamidm: you are arguing on the right side of the decimal when you measure beauty with skin color. i am trying to direct your attention to the left side of the decimal by saying that good health, hygiene, character, personality, manners, intellect, physique and even mystique (i.e. where advertizing comes in) are far more important factors.

Thus: to take stuka`s example, the fact is that europe has been way ahead of africa and asia the past few centuries, and this is reflected in the overall character, health, intellect and so on. europeans have the reflected glory of a highly successful civilization, while nigerians do not. italians have the image of living la dolce vita (the sweet life), while nigerians are infamous across africa (and now around the world thanks to their sending emails claiming to have millions of dollars they wish to put in your bank account) as being crooks. is thisaccurate? of course not. italians had the mafia, while nigerians had the nobel prize winner wole soyinka.

the makers of lux beauty soap dont want you to know this. i am liberating you from the tyranny of the advertisers by inviting you to focus on the left side of the decimal.