Changing Sides

Women who slept around for their baubles were known as harlots in the old days. Today the word may have changed, but the put-down remains. If Cleopatra ‘did it’ for Roman gold, she was no different from the peasant girl who traded her virtue for a few pieces of silver.

We’ve come a long way. Just ask Sushmita Sen. While the entire duniya went into overdrive wondering which loony industrialist had gifted that whopper of a diamond to the luscious Ms Sen, the insider gup was the lady had bought it herself. And yes, most times it stayed on her right hand—where it belonged. The message was loud and clear: Sushmita had arrived.

The RHR phenomenon began a decade or so ago when power chicks in the West began earning serious money. The trend became official when canny international jewellers launched a separate line for women who were making big bucks and an important personal statement. ‘‘Who needs Sugar Daddies,’’ they chorused as they strode into Harry Winston’s, flashing platinum cards and mucho attitude. ‘‘Give me the biggest,’’ they ordered, because ‘‘size does matter’’. Wicked? You bet. And wonderful. Oprah did it. Madonna used to do it. And closer to home, there was Sush grinning away when quizzed, but staying mum and mysterious.

Today, a working woman at any level has a brand and budget that’ll fit her taste and requirement. Branded jewellery has arrived, and with it an entire generation of career women is experiencing the liberation of funding their own bling blings.

I clearly recall the thrill of putting a couple of thousand bucks down for my first gold purchase over 30 years ago. I’d saved up my meagre modelling money and couldn’t wait to spend it on a piece of jewellery (remember, gold prices were affordable back then). Having grown up in a typical middle-class home, gold was the ultimate security blanket and long-term investment. So much time has passed but those bangles still sit in my cupboard. Over the years, I’ve continued to buy whatever I can comfortably afford. It’s a special, unbeatable thrill.

The relationship today’s women have with their jewellery is a far cry from the time their mothers hoarded, saved, conspired and planned feverishly to make sure there was enough gold in the wretched dowry chest, to ‘buy’ a suitable boy for their daughters. Freed of this pressure, women are in the enviable position of indulging themselves. Shopping for jewellery is like a spa treatment—relaxing and satisfying. That moment when you conclude a deal is akin to a deep tissue massage: It hurts, but in all the right places. And you know at the end of it, you’ll end up looking good and feeling even better.

Jewellery buying is an empowering experience for even a maid who slaves in someone else’s home. The emotional high she gets from her first pair of silver payals is, I’m certain, comparable to Sushmita’s. It’s not about the carats, it’s about the power rush you experience from paying your own bill. Jewellers in India will do well to cater to this market segment, given the staggering number of women in the workplace. Recognising their purchasing power would be a pretty smart move, since women are looking for great deals and making decisions for themselves, without seeking the ‘approval’ of a father/husband/lover.

For women, jewellery has always had a huge emotional quotient. It’s not about buying a precious metal or stone. It isn’t only about vanity or embellishment. It’s about prosperity and a sense of well-being. What a woman actually buys is not a diamond or a bangle, but an emotion. Today that emotion is linked to self-worth. She no longer depends on a man to subsidise her desire to possess jewels. If she has the resources, she will go out and splurge—no guilt, no explanations.

Are men sighing with relief, I wonder? Perhaps they’re sulking. Or in denial. I’m sure it used to give (at least a few) a sense of control over their women, when the family jeweller came around on Dusshera to show his latest wares. It was a cue for the man of the house to bellow, ‘‘No, no, no. She has far too much jewellery already.’’

No woman in the world, not even Queen Elizabeth, would ever admit to such rubbish. Enough jewellery? Are you nuts? Well, today’s chick will not wait for such an awful moment to ruin her Diwali. Chances are, she has pre-ordered. And paid up. Anything on top of that is always welcome.