Indians, it’s no great secret, have a particularly resistant strain of gold fever. It has been around for millennia. India has no goldmines but from the very dawn of long-distance trading, merchants fell hard for the golden allure, trading away pepper and spices, cloth and knowledge to get it. Kings and queens bought in. Many a violent war was fought over bounties of gold.
Today there is no important ritual in this country where the yellow metal is not required. At weddings, to celebrate the birth of children, or even at the end of life – gold plays a central role. Many festivals require the auspicious purchase of gold as a prayer for prosperity. Both film and folk songs describe India as ‘a golden bird’. The love of gold crosses every boundary: the rich, the poor, the privileged from every caste, class and religious persuasion, fall for its glitter.
