I am really fond of ethnic Jewellery especially the delicately intricate ones.This weakness was a part of me from a very young age. My mother used to secretly admonish me for this addiction of mine and blame my grandmother for this trait. Since she couldn't outperform my grandmother in their verbal battle,she used say this when she was not in my grandmothers vicinity. Thus this fault of mine was treated as an inherited weakness I got from my father’s mother. My grand mother used to be very fond of intricate patterns on her ornaments, which made her change her ornaments often or remake them to suit her taste.According to my mother,half the wealth of our family got squandered because of this mad craze of hers. So she never encouraged my fancy for delicate patterns and exquisite chokers. As I was very young, everybody including all the relatives of my family allowed me to try their jewellery on me. When I grew up,my mother refused this practice and warned others not to part with their ornaments to me.The main reason for her warning was due to her fear of theft or loss of their ornaments, due to my careless handling. Another thing she feared was that in case of any loss,she will have to make good for the loss from her own cache. In spite of all these hurdles and threats,it was an adventure for me to try other peoples jewellery on me and borrow it if I liked their exquisite pattern,without my mothers consent or knowledge.If I failed to borrow it from them,I use to pester my mother to get one for my own use. Mother used to get irritated with this habit of mine.She was never fond of ornaments,except the standard bangles and chain which were ordinary ornaments, a typical south Indian woman wore for her daily use.They were the standard thick set ornaments,which were mainly used for pledging when money ran short in our family.So nobody cared about the beauty of the ornament,but made sure when new ornaments were added to the family heirloom,the important factor was the weight of the jewellery rather than the exquisite workmanship. So most of our jewellery were plain ,chunk ones,so when they were pledged with the bank,we got the maximum loan amount.Father never cared about jewellery,it was my mother’s department and he never interfered in it,except when he was in need of urgent cash. Then her heavy jewel box was opened and the ornament that procured the needed amount were taken out. This was the only time my father saw the box,because even at the time when the pledge was redeemed it was Amma who went to bank and took it back.
My mother who had come from an agrarian background in Kerala, where gold was never a show piece but a hedge fund in times of calamity.She never cared about designs or intricacies in the jewellery design,but as fund for meeting emergencies when liquid cash was not readily available. So my demand,for exquisite designed jewellery fell on deaf ears. Whenever the gold smith came home to alter or make bangles or chains,I used to run to him with my patterns.He used to look at them and say in our local language, that those jobs will require more money and waste of gold,which my mother will never allow.So I was really at my wits end in my quest for getting delicate and intricate patterns for my ornaments.They were always plain, heavy chains, drab bangles and round rings for me to wear for all occasion, while my friend and neighbor, Shanti wore intricate designs of varied styles and fashion. So, whenever I got a chance,I exchanged my plain chunk of ornaments with her beautifully designed ones,without my mothers knowledge or consent.They were not like the plain chunk jewellery,which I had,but delicate thin ornaments with complicated designs and patterns that made the person who wore it look grand and royal. So I exchanged my plain chain with one of hers for a function,where both of us and our families attended.
That evening after the function, when Amma asked me to have an oil bath,she noticed the thin strip of jewellery on my neck,she started to question me.Whose jewellery is it ? was the first question. I just mumbled incoherently that this was my friend’s chain and I had borrowed it to wear for the family function. My mother was really taken aback when she heard my answer.The exchanged chain was twelve grams,where as my friends chain was only a few grams. It never occurred to me that chain I had exchanged with my friends was worth a few thousand more than her delicate chain.
She really screamed at me stating that I was the most foolish and dumb kid she had ever seen in her whole existence. Twelve gram of gold have been give over for a mere trinket, beside that piece was my maternal grandmother’s special heirloom, handed down from three generation back. To tell the the truth,I had never thought or given much importance to that chunk of ornament.The whole family gathered around me. Everybody berated me for being so foolish and naive. My fathers mother was the only one who didn't accuse me for this grave crime. She called my friends mother and explained the situation. Shanti mother along with a visibly shaken Shanti came to our house, with the exchanged ancestral gold chain. From that day on wards, the chain and all my ornaments were taken away from me.
I forgot this incidence and finally grew to become a young woman . I completed my higher studied and reached my ancestral home. My marriage was fixed, gold ornaments were taken out to be polished and made ready for my marriage.I was asked to choose the pieces I wanted for as part of my trousseau. Without much enthusiasm I selected the portion of family heirlooms that will become my inheritance. I had stopped wearing ornaments and my fancy for ornaments got over with my mothers constant bickering and admonition.When I went to college,I really refused to wear any plain chunk jewellery and mostly wore something small and equally plain for keeping my mother happy. When my wedding day approached, my father’s mother called me and gave me a beautifully carved jewel box.She asked me to open it.I opened it without any curiosity,but it was a real surprise,there on a velvet cushion lay the most beautiful and carved necklace with inlaid mother of pearls pendant and matching earrings. I was so overjoyed that I hugged my grandmother with happiness and sheer joy. She had always known my craving for exquisite jewellery,and how I was thwarted and subdued with my mothers attitude. She had heard my mothers statement to me many times over, that gold was for investment and not to show off. My grandmother had mellow down with age and now she never bothered to answer back my mother,but had scrimped and saved her meager income to give this beautiful gift to me . My love for beautiful things was ignited once more and now my daughter has an equal interest for exquisite designs and is eager to study further,about design and styles when she completes her school.
