Indian student sues for £100,000 compensation for hurt feelings after box of crayons contained a pink one labelled ‘skin’ colour

"An Indian law student is demanding £100,000 compensation after claiming that his feelings had been hurt by a 'racist' pink children's crayon sold by one of India's largest stationery manufacturers.

Chirayu Jain, 19, who is studying at the National Law School of India University said he was shocked when he opened up the box of crayons to discover that the lighter pink crayon had been labelled 'skin'.

In the complaint he said: 'On opening the box, I discovered that the 'special skin crayon' was of a shade that did not match my own skin colour.

'It is both insensitive and inconsiderate to label one particular shade as 'skin colour' in a market where a majority of the consumers have skin tones that are either dark or at least different from the shade described as 'skin' by the company.'

He said he had contacted the maker of the 'Colorama' crayons - Hindustan Pencils Ltd - and had demanded an explanation but said he had not been given one.

Instead he was told that they had always called it that, and had no plans to change it.

He said: 'I believe that such a crayon will reinforce stereotypes about racial supremacy. It is written on the box of crayons that they are meant for four-year-old children. What impact will it have on these young minds when they realise that their skin colour is not recognised? Won't it reinforce the notions of beauty that fairness products or films seek to impose when they realise that their skin colour is not one that is regarded as the norm?'

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He overlooks the fact the the crayon did not say WHOSE skin it matched.  There is in fact a wide range of skin colors in India  -- from black at one end to what they call "wheaten" at the other.

A judge should point to a range of differently colored Indians and ask which one is the "right" skin color.  That would be fun.