FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
KSS Pillai
Gold is again in the news. After its price shooting northwards continuously for many weeks, it has been moving in the opposite direction now. As the clever investor puts his money on gold when the stock market wobbles, one question often heard nowadays is, “Has the gold price bottomed out? Is it the best time to invest in gold?”
The glittering metal has always fascinated man. During my school days, I felt sorry for the greedy King Midas, who was granted his wish to turn everything he touched into gold. He had to beg later for the wish to be revoked when he almost starved when his food turned into gold at his touch, and the same thing happened to his darling daughter. The stories of alchemists who could turn any base metal into gold were equally interesting. When I started borrowing books from the library, I preferred those with gun-trotting outlaws galloping on semi-tamed wild horses in search of lost gold mines as protagonists.
Look at the photographs of kings and emperors of any country. They are bedecked with gold and jewels. In a world where might was right, wars between countries were frequent and keeping large quantities of gold and precious stones made sense as they could easily be transported and sold for buying arms and ammunition. Even today, the lure of gold has not dimmed a bit as money can be raised in an emergency from banks and other financial institutions who have no problem granting loans on the security of gold.
Gold’s rarity even in Biblical times gave it a monetary value and bestowed on the owner a measure of wealth and prominence. Not only was gold an indicator of wealth, but owning gold was compared to acquiring knowledge, wisdom and faith.
Gold plays a prominent role in Indian weddings, particularly in my native state Kerala, where dowry costing lakhs of rupees is demanded and given despite a legal ban. A minimum of 100 sovereigns (800 grams) of gold ornaments are expected by the potential bridegrooms, which may go up to a kilogramme or two, depending on the social standing of parties concerned, in addition to a large amount of cash and expensive cars. The wedding photos show brides covered in gold ornaments from top to bottom, though they may never wear them afterwards. The parents of marriageable daughters are, naturally, on a constant lookout for the price of the precious metal.
In an anti-dowry short film that I saw recently, the boy tells the girl that his outlooks are modern and he wants her to have just a couple of diamond necklaces instead of her gold ornaments. The girl, as expected, scoffs at the idea and asks him to buy them with his money if he is so inclined. Needless to say, the proposal falls through, thanks to the stand taken by her.
An offshoot of the prominence of the metal in the society is the way some eccentrics use it to show off their wealth. A Saudi billionaire is said to have a fleet of gold-plated cars. His Lamborghini car is carved out of a 500-kilogramme block of solid gold. Back home, a Pune salon owner uses an 8-tola razor to attract customers!
I wish I got a shave with that razor every morning.
