"The twilight Saga"

You're really lovely
Underneath it all
You want to love me
Underneath it all
-Gwen Stephanie(No doubt)

I have a confession to make. I stalk people. Yes, shamelessly facebook stalk. But who doesnt? Isnt our whole life's mission to know more about other people's lives. Isnt that why reality shows are such a huge success? As my travel for work has greatly reduced, FB has become my veritable source of life. Pop culture, the news, sports, music, and also angst. Alas, yes, my pretties, the ugly head bobs again. I return, embittered. Fine. I exaggerate.
As I was getting my usual healthy dose of FB spying, suddenly a whiff of chilled air touched me. I will explain why soon. I was looking at some of my friend's friend's pictures. Dont you love when you can unabashedly, look at pictures of friends of friends, and then their friends. Ah, the level of stalking are limitless.Okay, you dont want to be my FB friend anymore. Fine. But, I digress. So I did look, unabashedly that is. And there I found my oldest, darkest fear, relived. I felt like I had seen a character straight of The-ultimate-teen-fantasy, "The Twilight" movie. Alas, if the lady in question was anything as delectable as the Pattinson boy, I would have forgiven this particular faux pas. In keeping with the Asian obsession(perhaps, the Indian obsession) with the "fair" skin, my victim in question had painted(lets call a spade a spade) her face - white. Alas, she looked anything but. Next thing, I hoped, she would prop open her kurta(it was a an-indian-party-at-a-famous-bschool), and reveal a kimono and break into a demure Geisha-like dance. Nothing of the sort happened. Unfortunately, I am hardly forgiving of the mistake. I can imagine, her top MBA education coming in handy when she probably bullied the woman behind the makeup counter in giving her the "Ivory" foundation, when she should have gone "Tan".
As I grew up in the sweltering heat in India, I have seen relatives of mine, wear mismatched foundations and compacts that run down their expensive silk sarees, only to reveal, the horrible mismatch in their complexions. There was good reason for it. Back in the day, the beauty of a woman was measured only as the index of her skin color. The lighter she was, the more beautiful she was. And so, the foundation, amongst other things, helped Indian women enhance their "fairness quotient".
But this day and age, and in this country where we are proud to tout our uniqueness, ladies, I beg you to please please, spend the time to find the right foundation and/or pressed powder. Please stop from becoming indirect promoters for all vampire movies. You dont want to look like you have been exhumed out of a coffin. Better yet, if you dont know how to find the right color, dont wear any at all. Just show up with a smile and conquer the world!