Blinding gold glitter

The glitter of gold in southern state of Kerala can blind the rest of India. There is often a joke – you kidnap a Kerala bride and you will be financially secure for the rest of your life with merely all the gold on the bride!

The jewellery industry in Kerala is not complaining. The state used up to 400 gm of gold per wedding which works out to around 80 tonne per year!  And this we are talking only about gold which is newly bought; what about the gold which gets passed on as family heirlooms? This ostentatious show of gold sometimes puts tremendous pressure on the girl’s parents and it is an unnecessary expenditure.

There is a woman’s association, Kerala Women's Commission, which has made a suggestion to limit the amount of gold given at weddings to not more than 80 grams. This is an impractical solution and there is no way in which people will clamp down on buying gold. This needs a change in the mind set, where people themselves need to feel that they do not need to invest in so much gold. Who sells family gold? That’s like a last resort and for people who are so status conscious; selling gold will surely not be easy. More importantly, in all this, can you see the amount of money is able to save? Now that is surely something which needs to be tapped for more productive use.