The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Mad gold rush in Pearl City

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 01, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Mad gold rush in Pearl City

Puja S. Navin

The day is a festival of sorts for those who love the yellow metal From men to women to grannies, it was time to steal some golden moments as they thronged jewellery showrooms on Akshaya Trithiya

THE YELLOW METAL AND ITS ALLURE: A girl trying out a gold chain at a jewellery showroom in Hyderabad on Sunday. - PHOTO: K. Ramesh Babu

HYDERABAD: Sales counters at city jewellery showrooms buzzed with activity on Sunday.

Men picking bangles for their wives, sisters choosing chains for moms, grandmothers running up the showroom stairs like 16 year olds were some of the golden moments witnessed on the occasion of `Akshaya Trithiya.'

Showrooms like Khazana Jewellers opened shop right at 5.30 a.m., others at 7 a.m. like Meena Jewellers and most remained open till late into midnight — some even up to 3 a.m.!

Mohanlal Gupta, proprietor of Musaddilal Jewellers and Exporters, says: "This is an auspicious day. You do not need to ask for right muhurtham... the entire day is auspicious."

Special day

"We all want some luck, don't we?" quips Lulu John, school headmistress, picking up a pair of golden bangles for her sister at Tanishq. "We have been told that this special day brings luck. So, we are experimenting for the first time," say luck-hopefuls — Nalini and Krishna Kumari. "Some persons booked jewellery on Saturday itself, said Padma, floor incharge at Meena Jewellers.

For the last three years, the day has become a festival of sorts for those who love the yellow metal and those making a living out of it.

"Sales go up by four to five times the average," adds Mr. Gupta, who is also a sub-committee member of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council of India. He says that India International Jewellery Show, the biggest jewellery event in Asia, had to be postponed to May 4 instead of Sunday as none of the retailers were ready to let go of this gold rush.

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