Once upon time there was this rectangular J B Mangharam sweet box with the picture of Ram with a bow and arrow and Sita walking behind him which was my Pandora’s box. I would await its coming out from the almirah and landing on the bed. Then I would stand waiting eagerly for the Pandora’s box to open and show me the glitter, glitter, glitter of gold that lay within. There were beautiful necklaces and bangles and kangans and kadas, earrings and rings. One of the rings held my interest to such an extent that I still remember its design. It was an almond shaped ring with a lotus made on it in Minakari. I was always fascinated by this ring because the name of my mother is Kamal which means Lotus and this ring belonged to her. I always thought how appropriate that ring was.
So the box would open and the treasures would look at my face which I am sure was always filled with awe.
Those were the days when jewellery was kept at home, women wore them and did not hide them away in Bank Lockers. In today’s world all that glitters is indeed not gold. The jewellery shop on display that our brides have become today is like nobody’s business. The art, beauty and charm of adornment seems to have been lost. There is no beauty, no balance and no subtlety in the art of wearing clothes and adorning oneself with its accessories.
Everything seems to be a display.
Weddings have become a commercial venture. The sanctity and solemnity of the occasion seems to have been lost. There was a time long long ago when dowry was considered a bane, a burden, and a lot of social activists took it upon themselves to make sure that parents were not burdened with unnecessary expenditure to be incurred for marrying their daughter off. We had those wonderful years of austerity when at weddings the people could not be too ostentatious. Parents were rid of the burden of spending too much on weddings. One could not invite more than 100 guests at a wedding and no cereal could be served. There was a restriction on the number of dishes that could be served too. All those times seem to have gone very far away into the annals of history.
We are back to vulgar display of wealth and wasteful expenditure on wining and dining and numerous functions.
A wedding is a personal affair and a social event for family and friends. If only people with immense wealth and influence could understand that they set a bad example for young people of impressionable age then perhaps they would not indulge in so much wasteful expenditure. If the amount of expenditure that the film stars have recently incurred on their weddings was spent for opening a school in a backward village or for supplying water to a village then they would forever earn the gratitude and blessings of the people who benefitted by their gracious act.
In a country where many young children die of malnutrition and many people do not get two square meals in a day, such display of wealth is grotesque.
Much water has since flown down the Ganga, Volga, Thames and Amu Daria too, and my Pandora’s box too has got lost with time. The contents of the box went into an impersonal Bank locker from where some items would be brought out as and when needed. The picture on the box of Ram and Sita wandering in the forest now remains locked away in my memory of a time when life was carefree, jewellery was kept at home, worn whenever one wished to and all that glittered was actually gold.
Much water has since flown down the Ganga, Volga, Thames and Amu Daria too, and my Pandora’s box too has got lost with time. The contents of the box went into an impersonal Bank locker from where some items would be brought out as and when needed. The picture on the box of Ram and Sita wandering in the forest now remains locked away in my memory of a time when life was carefree, jewellery was kept at home, worn whenever one wished to and all that glittered was actually gold.
