India's relationship with blackness and why Black Women need to travel here

Growing up in India, I have lived in some of the remotest places you can imagine. And many of those places were extremely hard to reach. But for some reason I have seen white female travelers in all those places. But when it came to Black female travelers, I barely even saw them in the most popular Indian tourist sites. I wondered where they were, if they even traveled, or is it the fact that they don't like India so they choose other destinations to go to?

Well India has not got a very good reputation in the world for female solo travelers. Add to this the long history of colonisation and the deeply entrenched caste system, both of which have shaped a culture of colorism. The fairer the skin tone, the better you are perceived in the Indian society.

Most Indians are dark skinned which means the privilege of 'fairness' lies only with a very small group of people in the country. And those people are considered the epitome of beauty. Which is why Bollywood actresses are whiter than Angelina Jolie.

On the right is Bollywood Actress and superstar Kareena Kapoor

Beauty has its benefit, in India fair skinned girls find grooms more easily than dark skinned girls.If you are very dark, oh boy, there is gonna be some bullying you have to endure in India.

But are people who are dark hated? Not really. Dark skinned people achieve just as much as light skinned people do, they also receive the same amount of respect but just not in the beauty industry.

Which means you cant be a Bollywood actress if you are dark but you can definitely be the president of India.

Current President of India Dr. Droupadi Murmu

And what about our mythology? Well Indians pray to Goddess Kali, the world kali means 'black'. Godess Kali represents the fierce form of femine energy, meaning that a woman is a nurturer and a birther but she can also be extremely fierce and angry. This angry side of woman is celebrated in our culture because anger means you have the 'power' to be able to fight back what doesn't sit right with you.

If you mess with Goddess Kali, you know what she is gonna do? She is gonna behead you and add your head in her existing necklace made with other heads she has already cut off. Scared? You should be. A woman is never soft when she is scorned, hurt or exploited, and Kali as a goddess and a symobol represents that.

So yes Indians have a complicated relationship with color. India has a beauty bias against dark skinned people but it would be wrong to think they dislike black skinned people as a whole.

In fact India is the home of many African communities that have lived in India for centuries.

They are known as Siddhis and were brought to India as slaves by Portuguese. They ran away from their slave owners and settled in the forests of Gujarat and Karnataka where they have lived ever since.

Photo by Nagarjun Kandukuru

Coming back to my inquiry, why aren't black women traveling India? Maybe there is a lack of knowldge about what India is as a country or maybe the negative stuff floating about India online has something to do with it? Maybe they perceive Indians as not so 'friendly' or 'racist'. Maybe as a country we have never tried welcoming them.

I don't know exactly what the reason is but I do know one thing, India's offering should not just be reserved for white people.

Can you even call yourself a traveler if you haven't traveled to India? Nope. India is the mother of all countries. The beauty, the diversity, the arts, culture, history and the people are unlike anywhere in the world.

When I say India is hospitable to guests, I mean, Indians would feed you even if they have to stay hungry, they will give you a bed to sleep on even if they have to sleep on the floor.

India's richess is not in the infrastructure or malls or the fancy hotels, India's richness is in its people.

You could go to the richest person in the world and you could go to a poor person in India, I guarantee you that this poor Indian person is capable of giving more than anything the rich man can give you. Our willingness to give exceeds the limits of our possession. This is why India is so abundant, because we don't run out of giving.

A smiling fish seller

I think us Indians we need to let black women know that we are ready for them. It is our responsibility to send out this message to them.

In the past 10 years of my career, I have worked in bridging this gap between brown people and black people by consciously inviting black artists, poets and entrepreneurs to my events. I hosted so many workshops and residencies where black artists were invited as teachers/mentors. This was done so Indians could see them in the position of authority, as knowledgeable humans, capable of offering something new to them.

As a woman of colour myself, I have looked up to black women for inspiration. They have acheieved the unachievable. They have proven that circusmstances cannot hold you back. I have grown up reading poems by Maya Angelou and watching the William sisters on the tennis court win tournaments. I have seen what Rihanna did as an entrepreneur, I have witness Oprah's life changing interviews. I have cried listening to Nina Simone's music.

I would definitely hope that India can be welcoming for black women, and I also hope that black women leave stereotypes about India behind and experience the beauty of it for themselves.

In 2026, my NGO Two Roads Studio will continue to focus on creating sisterhood between brown and black women through travels.

There is a pandora box waiting to be opened.

And I always say this, why should whites have all the fun?