Gift of gold

Akshaya Tritiya is an important day to buy gold in the Hindu calendar, and where better than in Dubai - the ultimate city of gold. We speak to residents celebrating the golden festival.

India's love affair with jewellery is without parallel in the world. This unbroken tradition of personal adornment spanning over 5,000 years has found its way into the dazzling shops and souks of Dubai, where gold is bought at almost every occasion.
The festivals are often an auspicious time to purchase gold ornaments and collect coins, gold bars and gold biscuits, especially as an investment. Jewellers in town take advantage of the season by offering superb discounts and gifts, in return for purchases made on the day. It's all very exciting.
All the more so, when festivals such as Akshaya Tritiya carry a rich sentiment of wellbeing and prosperity. Gold, being the most sacred precious metal in Indian culture and amongst the Hindus, is considered the worthiest item to purchase on the day.
People pay close attention to the pulse of the gold market, and flock to buy gold or sell when the market conditions are favourable. What makes Akshaya Tritiya special, however, is a belief that purchases made, and investments fortified on this auspicious day bear the magnificence of a divine intervention.
The lure of 22 carat and 24 carat gold attracts customers from all over the world to buy the finest quality of gold at the best prices in Dubai. "In fact, the ease of shopping for jewellery in Dubai is unmatched," says Deepak J. Soni, a long-term resident and well-established jeweller in Dubai. He remembers the time when gold was sold at Dh 19 per gramme, compared to approximately Dhs 150 per gramme, today. "Even to this date, the trust in purity is undisputed, and Dubai has one of the widest varieties of jewellery designs in the world," adds Soni.

Deepak J. Soni
This excellent reputation for buying the best gold and jewellery is the main reason why residents in Dubai are given the responsibility to buy gold for family members back home in India. In fact, tourists from India flock to Dubai to buy gold. This year, Akshaya Tritiya falls on April 18th, and is regarded as the most auspicious day according to the Hindu calendar. It is a religious festival and is celebrated with prayers, offerings and charitable donations.
Dubai-resident Gargi Jay Gadhvi who is from Rajkot in Gujarat celebrates Akshaya Tritiya in a traditional manner. Her family is religious and they are aware of the significance of this day. Hence they always try to buy any form of gold on Akshaya Tritiya. "On this day, we perform a puja to honour our Hindu goddess Laxmi and Hindu god Vishnu to bring us endless fortune. In keeping with the spirit of giving, donations are made by my family, and charity is given to the needy. We also offer prayers for wellbeing for the people in our lives," says Gadhvi.
Considering the significance of this day, Gargi acclaims that jewellery stores in Dubai attract people with the best offers and discounts, making it the best time to shop for gold. "As an Indian woman, my fascination for gold jewellery is eternal. Akshaya Tritiya gives many women like me a reason to fulfil our wishes to invest in gold. This is how we celebrate this sacred day of the year," concludes Gargi.
Dinesh Bhatija, a banker and DJ from Dubai, who has recently become a father, added that it is part of their culture in Indian families to collect gold for our children from when they are born, and keep it for them or gift it to them on their wedding day. "We also prefer buying new designs in bangles, lockets for religious symbols and initials of our names. This time, we bought a locket for our new born son named Aardi from Meena Bazaar and engraved his initials on the locket. My wife Viara loves to buy and wear customised rings," says Bhatija.

Dinesh Bhatija
"We invest a significant amount in gold. Gold is a very good investment and the quality and variety of gold available in Dubai makes it more tempting as opposed to our home country India," adds Dinesh. He elaborated on the few religious occasions in his culture which promote the practice of investing in gold, namely; Akshaya Tritiya, Dhanteras and Diwali. In addition, Akshaya Tritiya is considered to be an auspicious day to start new ventures as well as for marriages. Indian weddings are incomplete without gold, thus making it the best time to buy gold for weddings. 
A long-term resident of Dubai, Sreerekha Gopinath buys most of her gold from Dubai rather than her hometown in Calicut, India. She says that the things we see in movies do affect our choices. "For me one actress who I always look forward to seeing is Vidya Balan as I love her style and choice of gold jewellery designs. I also prefer to buy traditional Kerala designs for me and my girls," says Gopinathan whose older daughter recently shopped at Dubai's gold stores for her marriage.

Sreerekha Gopinath
Sreerekha is assured that Akshaya Tritiya is an opportune time for her to buy gold. "I make it a point to at least buy something small on this auspicious occasion and right now as my daughter is expecting, I will be buying the new born a gift of gold," says the proud grandma-to-be.
Glamour of gold
Gold, with its lustrous appeal and rich, glowing shimmer, far transcends its characteristic metallic identity as just another metal on the periodic table. More than being viewed as an investment piece, wearing gold is highly fashionable and commands great admiration by people from the Hindu culture. Movies, especially released by the Indian cinema are famous for presenting decadent and lavish sets of gold and jewellery worn by famous actresses decked in gorgeous attire, fit for a royal bride. In fact, cinema widely celebrates the historic and royal nature of jewellery with a dazzling display of chokers, nose rings, bangles, bracelets and ankle bracelets, elaborate hair pieces, arm bands and earrings. The entire combination of jewellery, fashion, music and verse on screen are gracefully choreographed during dance and song performances to have a mesmerising and lasting effect on the viewing audiences.
Viara Martina Dinesh Bhatija loves wearing Kundan jewellery, and admits to being greatly influenced by Bollywood's take on fashion. "The gorgeous Deepika Padukone wears Kundan jewellery with her outfits and I love her style," says Bhatija. Recently, Viara emulated the rich and glamorous look of wearing beautiful gold jewellery with grand clothes, when she got married. "It gives a very royal and elegant look. It can make a very simple outfit glamorous," she added.

Viara Martina Dinesh Bhatija
Apart from gold, Akshaya Tritiya is an auspicious day to make significant purchases of almost any kind, such as cars and property. Dubai resident Priyaranjan Rath further explains the significance of purchasing items on the day among the Hindu culture. "As per my mother, Akshaya Tritiya is an auspicious day for Hindus around the world. It is also known as Akti in Madhya Pradesh. It falls on the third lunar day of the bright half (Shukla Paksha) of the month of Vaisakha. Hindus consider Akshaya Tritiya as one of the luckiest days because of the planetary position of the Sun and Moon. It is believed that the god of wealth and the treasurer of all deities 'Kubera' received his riches and position by praying to Lord Shiva at Shivapuram on Akshaya Tritiya. This is why the day is considered auspicious to start new ventures and buy gold or property," says Rath.
Hence his father always purchased their family's cars on Akshaya Tritiya. His finest memories of the sacred day centred on cars they bought in his hometown of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, where Akshaya Tritiya is a very popular day. "In 1995 our first car was a Maruti Omni, then in 2001 we bought a Santro, and a Wagon R in 2009. In Dubai, we buy gold almost every year. This year I went shopping with my wife Pragyan, to buy 22 carat gold rings - mine weighs seven and a half grammes and her ring weighs six grammes," says Priyaranjan.
Akshaya Tritiya is a time when gold brands in Dubai are known to roll out attractive offers and discounts so that customers have a reason to visit their shops and buy gold. Raffle draws, free gold coins and electronic gadgets are just some of the exclusive offers that excite many shoppers for gold in Dubai.
Sanjay L. Jethwani has been in the jewellery business for 25 years and knows what people like to buy at Hindu festivals like Akshaya Tritiya. "Most of customers are buying kundan sets, polki sets, jadau sets, ruby sets and other special 18 carat, 22 carat gold jewellery for themselves and their loved ones. Customers are attracted to a wide range of varieties in 18 carat, 22 carat gold, uncut and solitaire with exclusive designs in jewellery," says Jethwani.

Sanjay L. Jethwani 
Like most of the big names in jewellery, Meena Jewellers prepare promotional offers that include giving their customers a free gold coin upon the purchase of a certain amount of jewellery. As a result, he believes this is one reason why gold buying is gradually increasing every year. "Everybody gets together as it feels festive and joyful to buy for auspicious days," added Sanjay.
Bracing himself in disbelief was lucky draw winner Binoy Chandrabhanu who has had a brilliant stroke of fortune during Akshaya Tritiya this year. On a decision to accompany his close friends Shameer and Nisa who were on an errand to fix his wife's gold chain and exchange a worn out bangle, they bought chains, bangles, rings and a pair of earrings. They consolidated their purchases into one bill, upon which he filled his son's name on most of the 22 coupons they received. "I love to participate in lucky draws, and gold is the best investment for us. So now that we've won a Mercedes Benz CLA 250 car on Aryan's name, we will be going back to buy more gold," says Chandrabhanu on this unforgettable experience.
 
Binoy Chandrabhanu with his family and close friends Shameer and Nisa
Fond memories
Dubai resident Aditi Sharma from New Delhi says: "Everything that glitters is not gold, and that's the reason gold is gold. My love for gold began at an early age, admiring my bibiji's or badi mammas (paternal and maternal grandmother's) bangles, as they made beautiful sounds while they rolled the perfect chappatis for me.

Aditi and Anubha Sharma
"I remember complimenting my mom as she wore lovely big gold kada while she adorned her silk kanjivaram saree, ready to attend a cousins wedding. My mom smiled and said that when the time is right she's going to pass it to me. I was so excited and still visualise my big toothless grin and can hear my thrilled shrieks and screams. At that time, the innocent me thought it was so pretty and was so amazed by how mom was so kind and ready to part with such a pretty thing of hers.
"With time I realised that it wasn't just pretty, it was also valuable, not only monetarily but also as this constituted the heirloom and heritage, our parampara and vansh, and all those big words you hear in Bollywood movies.
"I have sometimes eyed her earrings and she's been kind to share except for one set of a neckpiece, which she refused to pass on to me, as parampara had it, that was to go to the daughter-in-law of the house.
"One of my favourite still remains Akshaya Tritiya, what a great festival to celebrate life - you get to shop and that too gold. I am so glad I moved here or else I wouldn't have known about it, and now I make it a point to remind my mom also to celebrate this wonderful festival, she is more than happy to oblige. For who can say no to gold and guess what my sis-in-law gets lucky too, again!"
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