FROM HINDUISM TODAY....CHENNAI,
INDIA, May 15, 2002: While western cultures on the planet watch the stock market
and various indexes to decide when to invest; East Indian culture turns to
astrology and the stars. Investing in gold has been a time-honored tradition in
India and last May 15th jewelery stores in Chennai were swamped with people
wanting to buy gold pieces.
It was Akshaya Tritiya and
according to Indian Astrology, it is a must to buy gold on this day as purchases
on this day are most auspicious.
One shopper says, "Buying gold on Akshaya Tritiya
is a family tradition of ours. Although I am not able to afford anything heavy
or grand, it is still a very exciting experience. I like it because shops
display new designs and there is such an air of celebration about the whole
experience."
For more details on the above vedik lifestyle phenomenon please click on the
next line.....
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Gold plays a powerful role
in Indian culture
and
the timing of a purchase must not be left to chance –
the right time to buy is down to India’s holy and auspicious days.
Charlie Watson takes a closer look......
It is mid-afternoon on Wednesday, May 15,and the staff in the jeweller’s
store in the centre of Chennai (Madras) are close to exhaustion. Since the doors
opened for business in the morning, their counters have been besieged by
customers clamouring for gold. A choice, a negotiation, a sale. A choice, a
negotiation, a sale. A choice, a negotiation . . . the cycle repeats itself
relentlessly amid the shrill,urgent noise of would-be buyers competing for
attention. Finally, and despite the promise of good business until closing time,
the owner decides enough is enough and closes the shop. He needs to protect his
staff.
What happened in Chennai was not a stock market scare, nor a devaluation of the
rupee, nor a buy-one-get-one-free promotion. It was Akshaya Tritiya, one of
India’s most auspicious days, and a day closely associated with buying gold.
“Buying gold on Akshaya Tritiya is a family tradition of ours,” one
shopper,Padmaja Rao, told the Economic Times, as she prepared to make her annual
gold purchases on Akshaya Tritiya this year.
“Although I am not able to afford anything heavy or grand, it is still a very
exciting experience. I like it because shops display new designs and there is
such an air of celebration about the whole experience.”
The right moment Gold has always had a special place in Indian culture,
underpinning the idea of
stridhan, a woman’s traditional endowment at marriage which will support her in
any future times of trouble. But acquiring a measure of wealth at marriage is
not the end of the story. Many Indian men and women will buy gold jewellery (and
also, more recently, miniature ingots) throughout their lives and, like
investors everywhere, they want to buy at the best possible moment.
Hence the rush to buy.
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