Shoaib Malik reveals Sania Mirza was made to eat apples during pregnancy for 'fair-skinned' baby

Cricketer appeared on talk show opposite Ushna Shah, who spoke up against desis' obsession with white skin

A couple of months after giving birth, ace Indian tennis player Sania Mirza opened up about her pregnancy and what followed, provided the pressure to return to the playing field and getting back in shape as a woman in sports. But one detail, that even she left out, has been revealed by her husband and renowned cricketer Shoaib Malik.

In his appearance on Nida Yasir's sehri transmission opposite actor Ushna Shah, the two ended up discussing a range of topics, including the obsession of desis with fair-skin, which had been called out by Ushna recently after she uploaded a photo holding an ice-cream, only to be shamed for the complexion of her hands.

To add to the conversation, Shoaib revealed, "My mother-in-law made my wife eat a lot of apples [during pregnancy] because they say that [by doing so], the child turns out to be fair skinned." Ushna implored, "But your son is fair," to which Shoaib replied, "very fair, so I suppose it worked," laughing it off.

But Ushna refused to let the conversation die down. Taking the opportunity to reinstate that dark skin is beautiful and highlight the absurdity of deeming fair skin superior to every other skin type, she added, "I think tall, dark and handsome is a great thing. My crush growing up was [American professional basketball player] Kobe Bryant, who's a Black man. So, I don't understand this obsession. There are so many beautiful women in our industry [who have a darker complexion]."

Nida Yasir also added that Waheed Murad, a "chocolate hero" was also gorgeous. "Exactly!" exclaimed Ushna. The Parizaad actor went on to recall what an uncle of hers from her father's side of the family – which is of Persian descent – had said to her. “He said I am only 60% beautiful and 40% attractive because I wasn’t as fair as them. So it was then that I discovered that there's also this notion of fair being assosiated with beauty, but if you're good looking and not as white, you can only be called 'attractive'.” She went on to renounce such false and discriminatory beliefs by declaring, “I love my tanned skin."

Thankfully, Ushna is only among a plethora of celebrities who have, in today’s day and age, spoken up against the regressive standards of beauty in our entertainment industry and society.

Back in 2019, the dusky and gorgeous Mushk Kaleem had also refused to endorse brands and campaigns that require her to lighten her skin tone with makeup. "No, I'm not a pearlescent white-skinned girl, I'm dusky and bronze. To all the clients who book me for shoots and then expect me to douse myself in lighter makeup to make me look 'acceptable for lawn', I'd rather you not book me at all," she had declared.

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.