Ridiculing someone over their complexion is not new to India and Abhinav hopes his message will help change the mindset and prove #Fairisnttheonlyhandsome.
Indian Cricketer and test opener Abhinav Mukund’s recent Twitter post made headlines, and for all the right reasons! The batsman, currently in Sri Lanka with the Indian team, shut down social media trolls who commented on his complexion.
Ridiculing someone over their complexion is not new to India. Abhinav hopes his message will help change the mindset and prove #Fairisnttheonlyhandsome.
With no agenda of garnering sympathy or attention, he says it is an issue he feels strongly about.
Addressing an open letter to his followers, the 27-year-old batsman wrote, “I have been playing cricket since the age of 10 and I have gradually climbed up the ladder to where I am right now. It is an honour to get the chance to represent the country at the highest level. I have been travelling a lot within and outside our country since I was 15.”
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Mentioning how people’s obsession over his skin colour is a mystery to him, he voiced he doesn’t regret all the hours he spent under the hot Chennai sun playing cricket.
“I have played and trained day in and day out in the sun and not once have I regretted the fact that I have tanned or lost a couple of shades. It is simply because I love what I do and I have been able to achieve certain things only because I have spent hours outdoors. I come from Chennai probably one of the hottest places in our country and I have gladly spent most of my adult life in the cricket ground,” he wrote.
Speaking about getting bullied while growing up, he shares how he has been subject to a lot of name-calling. But all he did was laugh it off because he had bigger goals.
“Affected young, I toughened up because this was never something that would pull me down. There were many times when I chose not to dignify these insults with responses. Obviously, with the rise of social media it has gone to a magnitude that I see people hurling abuses left, right and centre at something I have absolutely no control over,” he shared.
Encouraging people to identify and break away from conventional beauty standards in the industry and society at large, he signs off by saying, “Fair isn’t the only lovely or handsome guys! Stay true, stay focussed, be comfortable in your own skin.”
To avoid people from misconstruing his post, he explained that it was directed at those posting derogatory things about his skin colour and had no connection with anyone in the team.
In a nation where public figures refrain from taking up issues on social media, Abhinav’s bold decision to publicly address his grievance is commendable. Apart from teammates, his post received an overwhelming response from the general public too.
Pledge your support to Abhinav Mukund here.
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