‘Pele Colour’: How Casteism & Colourism Dictate Sartorial Choices

The use of ‘pele colour’ as a term of ridicule was not limited to fair skinned people, but to people of any skin colour, but it was particularly hard-hitting if you are dark-skinned, even more if you are a dark skinned dalit.

By fii-author Jan 7, 2021 5 min read

Deep pink, magenta, neon green and bright yellows were strict no-nos in my nouveau dalit middle-class family as they were referred to as ‘pele colour’.