You've hit the nail on the head, in this day and age Indians still revere only the fair-skinned, they continue to bow in spite of being independent for almost 60 years! It's as though being of foreign origin is one's passport to getting polite treatment in India. I've been to Mumbai several times and have noticed that people seem to want to please if you aren't a native. Isn't it sad that it's not important to be courteous to your own and yet go out of your way to be couteous to others. I'm sorry about what your children had to go through and what pains me more is the impression they're going to have about their parents' country of origin.
