Did you hear that sound? Like something
grating? That was me. I am grinding my teeth. And I do that when I am extremely
irritated or angry.
I have received in my mail an invitation to
go and buy jewellery on this auspicious day, Akshaya Tritaya, so that I will be
blessed. And the invitation is a glossy three paged affair, with beautiful
colour pictures of jewellery and silver articles. Tempting enough for anyone to
go and pick up a few pieces, and must have cost a pretty penny, no doubt to be
made good with the expected sales on the big day.
Not only this, newspapers and magazines
were swamped yesterday (April 23) with advertisements from jewellers,
inveigling people, luring them into their beautifully lit air-conditioned
showrooms to buy some piece of jewellery and consider themselves blessed. The
smaller jewellers contented themselves with smaller ads. The Hindu had a full page
ad (from a jeweller’s?) yesterday, which also ran a sentence to the effect that The Hindu wished everyone a Happy Akshaya Tritaya Day. Today (April 24) the paper carried an apology on the front page dissociating itself from such sentiments –
and rightly so.
Televison news reports said people were
swarming around jewellery shops, and that these shops had been open from early
in the morning to accommodate shoppers.
Are we really so gullible? When did this desire to get blessed by buying
gold come into being?
A few years ago we were completely ignorant
of this day. But soon when traders ran out of ideas to sell their wares, other
than for Christmas, Pongal and Deepavali, they chanced on other ‘sale’ tactics
-- like Aadi, summer, school opening,
pre-monsoon, post monsoon, you name it. Every second month there is something
to celebrate and hold a sale. But nothing has picked up like this – Akshaya
Tritaya.
Akshaya is a Sanskrit word meaning
undiminishing, and Tritaya only means the third day after the New Moon. It is
considered an auspicious day for giving to charity, so that the giver is blessed
manifold. Somewhere along the way, the meaning got twisted by jewellers and
their ads, and I think people began to read it as ‘charity begins at home’ and
started buying a small piece of jewellery as an auspicious start.
From there it has grown to gargantuan
proportions. I saw that some jewellery shop had invited Kerala chendai players
with their typical hypnotic beat to lure shoppers into spending at their shop.
And we have begun to feel that we will be cursed if we don’t buy jewellery on
Akshaya Tritaya.
I am all for jewellery and the pleasure it
gives us women to wear them, and all for buying jewellery. But I do not want to
be browbeaten into it.
Happy shopping folks!
15 comments:
The gullible people are to be blamed & no one else. Traders will always try to make mileage out of this.
Wholeheartedly agree. I was appalled when I saw the ads in the Hindu yesterday! But while these overdose of ads make us cringe, there are others who crowd the jewelry shops to adorn themselves with shiny objects.
Well said, Raji!!
I second what Flower Girl says! A voice of reason. We are fools if we believe that buying jewellery makes us better or more 'virtuaous'.
Priya Venkat left this link which tells us about the different auspicious events that happened on this day. http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/14313968/139882269/name/akshaya
அருமையான கண்ணோட்டம். அப்பட்டமான உண்மை.
" கேப்பபையில் நெய் வடிகிறதென்றால், கேட்பார் புத்தி எங்கே போயிற்று. " என்பார்கள். அது போல், விக்கிறவன் சொன்னா, வாங்கறவன் புத்தி எங்க போச்சு?
அருமையான கண்ணோட்டம். அப்பட்டமான உண்மை.
" கேப்பபையில் நெய் வடிகிறதென்றால், கேட்பார் புத்தி எங்கே போயிற்று. " என்பார்கள். அது போல், விக்கிறவன் சொன்னா, வாங்கறவன் புத்தி எங்க போச்சு?
But for people who wants a reason to buy gold, this also another one!!!
A day for charity turns out to be a day of indulgence!
Gullible or selfish are we?
But then thanks to the frightening gold price, nothing can lure me to the shops :)
Well said , Raji. And thanks for giving the meaning of akshaya tritaya. Amazing to know that the meaning doesn't even come close to anything gold.
Whether it is jewellery or any commodity it only seems that people are simply not allowed to stop for a second and think "do I really need to buy this ?". Buying gold during Akshaya tritiya is considered auspicious by some coastal Andhra Brahmin families. Another important puja by some coastal Andhra Brahmin families is Lakshmi puja performed on all the thursdays of Margasira month by the women folk and it is believed to bring prosperity to both the families i.e where she was born and the family to which she becomes a member after her marriage.
Wherever you stay, you are bombarded by hoardings, newspaper and magazine ads, TV ads about the yellow metal, its white siblings and their their toxic partners. I try not to be cynical, but there seems a thin line between beauty and vulgarity.
It's time to educate the gullible buyers ! Especially Akshaya Tritiya day is auspicious for giving out white colored dhaan ..like milk , curd rice etc which has been twisted to mean Platinum becos of its white colour ...It is really irritating .
These are desperate times for businessmen..they'll use every opportunity/method (scrupulous or otherwise) to make their next rupee..its for us to use our intelligence, to see thru their games & not get carried away...exploitation is d game & only the strong & level headed survive.
I was searching for the 'like' button when I glanced at the above comments! But realized this was not facebook! May be the first time when someone tried this trick, the businessmen got to see the easy gullibility of public. Fear is another additive that the astrologers contribute to the business!
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