Jewelery Nightmare

((Written On 24th February 2010. Posting Today))

The thing about love that stands clear from all the other aspects it has, is the willingness to do anything for the one you love. And I mean anything.

Not being new to this aspect of being a sentient being of emotion, I began this day with a lot of excitement to the forthcoming events in my life. All beginning with Today, mom and dad’s 25^th Wedding Anniversary. The Silver Year.

To say I was on top of the world would be a slight understatement. Sure I was up on top, sitting way up on the apex and smiling at the world below, and at times during the day, cursing others in this world. Nevertheless, the evening had a different agenda. I had to shop. For mom and dad’s gifts. And I had planned what they would each get.

I wanted to get Mom a nice piece of jewellery, and Dad was going to get a swiss watch. The latter part of the task was the easier of the two. Quite simply as I was shopping for something I understood about. Picking out a sapphire crystal swiss watch for dad was a fun experience, not to mention it took me not more than about 17 minutes to enter the shop, run through the options, select one which said CLASSY and MODERN at the same time, smiled at the knowledge that dad would love it, swipe the card and get outta there. 17 minutes. Heck I was a swiss watch myself.

But the OTHER part of the endeavour. Hoo boy. I was sure I wanted to get Mom jewellery. And that’s a big deal. Simply coz My mom is a connoisseur of Jewellery. It was the equivalent of picking out a car as a gift for Micheal Schumacher, picking out a punching bag and gloves for Muhammad Ali, picking out a suit for SRK…..you get the picture don’t you? My brother warned me against it. But me being ME, I had to go do it.

So with a lot of apprehension and a face oozing confidence, I stepped into Al Fahidi Street, which is the Commercial Street of Dubai to many people. Filled with a lot of Gold Shops, most of them branded stuff. Name a gold designer and chances are they’re there.
I was petrified.

The only times I’ve been to a jewellery store, I’ve been under the wing of mom, my aunts or cousins or sisters in law etc. NEVER ALONE. This was my Normandy. Except, this was all alone. Imagine one Allied forces soldier standing on the beaches of Normandy alone, looking around at Zee Germans and getting stared back at. Pretty much the same scenario took place with all the ladies around the gold market staring at me. I wish I could tell you how I looked into each of their eyes with a confident look. Oh hell No. This allied soldier had his head down, guns behind my back, walking through the lines with a “Excuse me, Pardon me, Sorry don’t mean to intrude, KLANG!! (Hitting a signpost is inevitable when you walk with your head down right?)”

But nope, I love you maa. So I braved the first onslaught and went up to the counter, blabbered something about diamonds and the yellowy coloured metal which ladies find so fascinating. Hooo Boy…. I first saw Pearls. Who the hell first came up with the idea to say, “Hey lets dive so deep into the oceans that our lungs burn and find those clammed up shells, pull them to the shore, pry them open with a mallet and a nail, and voila, round white thingie which shines !!” I mean seriously, how the heck did that happen?

Then moved to the diamonds. Found one I liked, and the shopkeeper blabbed about cents and carrots and Belgian cuts and I was thinking, this guy’s a chef who turned jewellery salesman. Then I saw it. He called it the MOM pendant. The name sounded perfect. And when I laid eyes on it, it looked it too. It is a tear drop gold outline with the Arabic word UMMI or MOM, set in calligraphy and lined with diamonds.

A few deliberations and a few conversations with my Bhabi, and yup, the pendant adores a black velvet box on its way to its recipient. I just hope she likes it. If not for the design, atleast for the sheer guts it took me to walk up among that horde of chattering females and staying alive and awake through the entire experience, walking out with a smile.

Love you Mom.

Love you Dad. Wish you both a Happy Married Life for another 25 years inshaAllah. And furthermore may Allah bring you together in Jannah for all eternity.

I guess its true then, Diamonds are forever. **SHUDDER**