My Mum's Indian (and yeah, her family didn't like her marrying a 'gaura' hahaha) and to many Indians, white is beauty.
It doesn't matter how ugly you are, If you're pale, you're beautiful. Also, if you're pale, more men will apparently want to marry you
My cousin has dark skin and a few years ago my Aunty and Uncle were trying to find her a nice bloke to marry. Unfortunately she was turned down more than once, for the sole reason that her skin was dark. It's an awful thing to see but that's the culture I suppose.

I thought it was just an off the cuff funny remark but apparently there is some kind of fear of bein 'too dark' in the subcontinent. I'm Asian myself but I don't remember my parents ever warning me about the dangers of playing out in the sun in fear of causing darker skin

No they don't, you can google "skin colour discrimination in India"

Generally having lighter skin is considered more attractive. That's been common for thousands of years. Dark skin was associated with being laborers

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