Pick up any in-flight magazine (80% of air travellers are men) and they are full of jewellery advertisements. Each necklace looks like it weighs 3 kilograms and the earrings are nothing less than 1 kg each. You would imagine we are all princesses living in the Mughal era!
The lust for jewellery in the year 2016 is entirely based on 2 factors:
1. The rational motive: To find a parking spot for one’s black money. (a jeweller whom I recently met in Gurgaon shared that 75% of his clients pay cold hard cash and do not want proper bills).
2. The irrational motive: To show one’s status and wealth - although there are many other ways to do that in the modern age.
In fact, at most weddings women are happily wearing absolutely blingy, 100% fake costume jewellery citing security reasons. Aajkal zamaana itna kharab ho gaya hai…
The real thing lies locked up in the bank locker, possibly completely out of date and out of fashion.
I have nothing against jewellery - I too own some heirloom pieces handed down to me at the time of marriage by my mother-in-law. But the important word here is ‘few’.
Buying your daughter or daughter-in-law multiple big fat sets is a waste! Yet every single day you see it happening.
Brides are practical birds after all - if pitaji and sasurji are feeling generous, why to object! Behti noton ki Ganga mein haath dho lo...
Grandmothers often talk of jewellery as stridhan. Well - a gold biscuit is a more sensible form of dhan than a kundan ka haar. Then there are shares and mutual funds. Even property.
But kya karein - we have our traditions.
Actually, I feel that girls from modern Indian families have already received the greatest form of dhan - which is a good education. They are fully capable of buying their own jewellery - the kind they can actually wear everyday.
But no, the act of buying jewellery has been equated with ‘love’ and ‘romance’. Thanks to a modern day advertising success story called De Beers.
If your husband buys you a diamond on your birthday or anniversary - it means he loves you.
Now if he goes for this Tanishq scheme and buys the same diamond at 20% off… it could mean ki unke pyaar mein bhi kuch kami hai ! *wink*
So think before you leap. The most precious jewel a man can give you is his heart. Do you have that or do you just have a collection of stones?
