My family was once invited to the inauguration of a retail outlet. Most of the businesses in Kerala which are 'for the people, by the people,of the people,' are proprietorships/family owned businesses. The one I am referring to is on the same lines, and retails clothing (brands or otherwise) and jewelry.
We went in with our strategy in place, the invasion was divided into two battles. Stage one would be the clothing section. Since the products were relatively cheaper there was a larger chance of missing out on the good stuff than at the jewelry store where women spent a couple of milliseconds more considering and deciding which piece to pocket. Hence we could sweep through the clothes section in a couple of hours and then take the jewelry section by its horns.
My aunt and I jostled through the crowd that rummaged through the clothing section, hoarding whatever pleased the eye. The competition was on, whoever got to the design first had a greater possibility of owning the piece. We competed against people who spoke different dialects/ accents of English, Malayalam, Hindi (& rare instances of Kannada) making our way to the prize.
The next battle was at the jewelry store, and a bird's eye view of the crowd indicated it was not going to be easy. We managed to swoop down to the counter and have a look at a few designs, but the jostling women that enveloped me made me wonder aloud "what is with women and gold jewelry, why do they like it so much?" I was loud enough for the ladies next to me to hear, they smiled and played chinese whispers conveying my message to the next friend (fiend in the jewelry battle). I could make out that my radical question had reached the extremities of the hall, because the manager on the floor caught up with the giggling ladies who looked in my direction, he heard their version of my comment, and without wasting a single moment in thinking about the intelligent and enlightening question, gave me the evil eye. The rest is history.. (which means it cannot be disclosed to mankind how soon we chose what we didn't want,paid for it and picked speed)
Advertising has certainly played it's part in accentuating interest in this jewelry outlet, but what of my grandma's contemporaries who were overpowering us in the battle for the prettiest piece. My grandma and her friends are as fond of gold jewelry as the rest of them tugging at necklaces and bangles, the chunkier the piece the fiercer it gets.
I guess the love for jewelry can be traced back to the history of mankind, or womankind to be precise. It means adorning themselves to some, to others it means being the best among the adorned, while there are others who think that a person's stature is directly proportional to the amount of expensive stones n metals on their persona.
To me its just something that complements the attire, only when you are supposed to look dressy.
Then the pivotal question is "what was I doing at the inauguration of a clothing and jewelry outlet?"
Like I said the chemistry between glitter, glamor and women goes way back... it's much beyond my comprehension to say the least.
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