There are a lot of debates about how Indians are the “browns” for Western cultures. However, has anybody really stopped to wonder about how Indians see each other? With most of the citizens of the country migrating towards the Western way of living, a lifestyle usually isolated from the ‘tradition’ associated with India, something Indians cannot escape from, is the way they look. An Indian face is distinguishable, (yes dying the hair blonde doesn’t work either!) no matter if the said Indian is dressed in a tailored suit or a dhoti, a sari or a bateau dress. But India is after all, a land of diversities, and the way Indians look varies through north, south, east and west throughout the country. It is only common for Indians to comment about each other like, “Are you a Bengali? You certainly look like one”, or “look at that long nose, he must be a Kashmiri”. Indians are as quick to categorize each other as one would pick out ice cream flavors, (Shah Rukh Khan’s character in Chak De India! was definitely not happy about that) it is like a conditioned reflex they just happen to acquire and no amount of staying away makes it go. So how do we do it? Is it our knowledge about the historical and geographical aspects of the states and regions we live in? Or are we just too well versed with noticing each turn and curve of our faces and associating our observations with preconceived notions of our minds? There doesn’t seem to be a single answer to that actually, but it is nevertheless harmless to analyze Indian facial features region-wise on the basis of majority. This blog will focus on female faces in particular and how these faces mold beauty and fashion concepts for themselves.
The North
North India loosely refers to the states of Jammu-Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Uttarakhand. First things first, up north, mountains, cold weather, and therefore relative lack of melanin in the skin. North Indian women are generally fair-skinned, with harsh features. Prominent noses, high foreheads, and strong jawlines set them apart. While Kashmir ki kalis, like to adorn themselves with surma, our Punjabi kudis like the bling.
The East
The east comprises of the hilly regions as well as the plains. As one keeps going eastwards towards Sikkim, Manipur, Nagaland, and Assam we get girls with Mongoloid features, round or heart-shaped faces with mildly frostbit skin, while towards the center the looks go a tad bit rural or tribal, with round faces, small noses, and dusky or wheatish complexion for Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Orissa respectively. The dynamic of facial features in the east makes it harder to categorize its people and it is easy to confuse. While girls from the plains of Bihar, and Orissa tend to go simple on their looks, the ‘bongs’ tend to accentuate their endowed features, while girls from the far-east carry off pretty much any style with their doll-like looks.
The South
The southern states show Dravidian as well as Negro and Mongoloid facial features (i.e. in the islands), with relatively darker complexions, fuller lips, smaller foreheads with prominent eyebrows and wider noses. Scientifically analyzed or not, these dusky beauties have smiles that can lighten up your day and wrap your hearts in warmth.
The West
The western India is the land of deserts and fluctuating weather. Comprising mainly of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, western India is home to wheatish to fair complexion, prominent cheekbones, deep set eyes and subtle chins. Our Rajasthani chhoris, and gujju girls are all about their ghagras and bangles and their style doesn’t shy away from vibrant colors, while Maharashtra (on a different note, wonder whether it is possible to think about Maharashtra without thinking about Bollywood?) misses are quite innovative with their bindis and gajras.
While it is interesting to cheekily deduce the state origin of a person from his or her face, a person’s face or the region they are from shouldn’t be a judgmental basis for their merit or character. It is highly unethical to associate beauty with some states and ugliness (this word shouldn’t be used to describe people anyway) with others. As a research for this article, a very interesting video came across, while the video was ridiculous, it started an even more ridiculous debate:
Seriously?
This next comment sums up what we need to understand
Diversity loses its charm once it becomes a basis of discrimination. There are so many social issues to discuss, why waste time in criticizing something that is not even in our control (read: genes)?