Indians are perhaps the greatest hoarders of gold the world over. Recent crisis came to be highlighted when the Finance Minister had to make a fervent appeal to the countrymen (read women) not to buy gold as it was all imported and India was facing balance of payment crunch.
It is really the case that the Indian consumption now depends entirely on import of gold, and therefore while we pay in rupees while buying it, the country has to pay in dollars. This basic economic reality, however, cannot be easily appreciated by the Indian middle classes.
Why middle class, in fact every section, even the rural population and all rich and poor according to their capacity are enamoured by the yellow metal. To that extent it is one of the equalisers in our society as no social/family function can be held in any social group without presentation or exchange of gold jewellery, an integral part of Indian culture. It symbolises wealth and is related to status in the society, even associated with good luck. Theoretically, there are special occasions when buying gold is considered auspicious but typically there is never a day when an Indian household would not try to buy gold at the slightest pretext, all the year round and not only on Dussehra, Diwali, Onam and Pongal. It is not surprising that a good percentage of domestic savings in India sits tightly on household gold reserve.
The almost fatal attraction to the glitter of gold has been part of Indian history, mythology and cultural traditions. Apart from festivals, it has a huge attraction for weddings. We cannot imagine an Indian wedding without the display of gold ornaments not only on the person of the bride but worn very prominently by all the female attendees. Of course even Indian men wear rings and chains but less ostentatiously than their counterparts from the royalty
of ancient and medieval times. But for women and more so for brides, it is a matter of pride as to how much of it they bring with them to their marital home. Generally accorded some sanctity in the Indian households as streedhan of the married women, though not entirely free from manipulation or outright grab by capricious sasuralwalas, it provides some sense of security against hard times and acts almost as a hedge against the vagaries of market fluctuations. Our womenfolk may not understand the share market but they have a canny sense to gold appreciation and it generally stands them in good stead. But lest we forget, despite this lure for gold large number of them came forward to part with their ancestral and hard-earned possessions as donation on the call of Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle. So perhaps the Finance Minister may not despair. If anything, he may have to retry by making his avocation and exhortation a little more mired in emotions for the desired result, and more so when it is not for charity but just for holding on to what have you and not go beyond.
There are both sweet and pathetic stories related to gold riches. The stories of gold abound in the folktales included in the Panchtantra, Dastan e Alif laila, Dastan e Amir Hamza etc about how princesses used to have the most exquisite prized collections that they were sometimes willing to exchange for love etc. The tresses of the royalty were interwoven with gold threads to add delicacy and richness, so also their costumes. Many brands today take inspiration from ancient traditions and folk designs for both naming and designing their costumes and pieces of jewellery. Concept marketing especially relies on patenting their offerings on traditional designs — old is really gold in their case. In case of royalties, it went beyond the personal accessories to the accompaniments like gilded dagger, gold inlays in decorative potteries and even in royal mukuts and thrones. Gold along with precious stones was used as inlays for extensively decorating the interiors of royal abode and entertainment areas, especially roof. Gold is also very closely related to the shringaar-rus (adornment of women) in romantic Indian literature, which tells us something about the seductively magnetic and infinite feminine beauty that gets accentuated by gold embellishment and ornamentation.
We found a Hasrat Jaipuri’s exposition being rendered by Dharmendra with great élan, “sone ke gahne kyon tu ne pehne, kaya teri khud kanchan hai…’’. Hindu gods and goddesses are shown wearing gold crown and jewelleries, as there are also references to ‘sone ke kalash wale Khwaja’. Many of our temples
and gurdwaras have their top kalashes washed in gold. Of course there are whole statues of gods made in gold and some temples are reputed for their huge gold bricks and ingots. last but not the least, Brahma, the creator himself is believed to be born from the cosmic egg of gold and is therefore referred as Hiranyagrabha. Thus gold is deeply embedded in the Indian culture and belief-system. It is a million dollar question if this strong grip on Indian psyche can be loosened during the next few centuries, notwithstanding the injured refrain of the Finance Minister.