hair's colour in Sanskrit

[Frances Pritchett]

On Wed, 7 May 1997, Aditya, the Hindu Skeptic wrote:

> 
> Yes, it is  both ironic and paradoxical. The real discrimination in
> India is based on caste and not color although Varna is also a synonym
> for color. When they refer to color they instinctively mean Varna.

I have noticed this kind of discrimination among members of the same
family, so it cannot be Varna.  People have shown me their children and
pointed to one of them and said, for all the children to hear, "See how
dark she is, how will we ever get her married..."

An interesting corollary is that in my observation South Asians,
especially women, cannot imagine the concept of the "suntan"-- the idea
that anyone would voluntarily *darken* his or her skin color even the
tinsiest bit is just inconceivable...