The second episode of the Par Desi podcast focuses on a concept we’re all too familiar with and yet, something that finds only scattered mention in popular discourse.
In India, where racial composition of the population is largely homogenous, the possession of fair skin could often have subtle social and economic advantages. In this episode we chat with Dr. Melissa Myambo, an academic and writer who raised some pertinent questions – Is it possible to quantify these advantages? If so, how? – and gathered very interesting findings.
We also talk about Frontier Migration, a concept formalized by Dr. Myambo during her research work, which concerns the movement of people from developed to developing economies in search of better opportunities for livelihood. While most of us may be familiar with the converse, we find out how Frontier Migration has existed for centuries in different forms and is taking on a new dimension in the modern world.
Dr. Myambo is a Research Associate at the Centre for Indian Studies in Africa at the University of the Witwatersrand and a 2017 Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study Writing Fellow. In 2016, she was the recipient of a Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Award to conduct research in India where she was affiliated with the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in Delhi. She’s also a pleasure to interview and we thank her for taking the time to talk to us.
