Women Power And Indian Gold Reserves

Women power and Indian Gold reserves

Mallika rushed into our house, beaming from ear to ear and brimming with excitement. She called out, "Amma, Amma!" I was non-existent to her, even though I was very much present. Turning her back to me, she pulled out a small pouch from her blouse and handed it to my daughter.

My daughter opened the pouch and found a pair of gleaming jhumkis (traditional Indian earrings) that Mallika had purchased for her five-year-old daughter.

“So, your flower-stringing business went well this marriage season?” my daughter asked.
“Extremely well this season,” replied Mallika, smiling.

Mallika supplies flower garlands to our house on Thursdays. “I worked four hours a day, starting at 3:00 AM, while my drunken husband remained blissfully unaware of my efforts,” she explained.

Mallika buys flowers from the wholesale market, strings them into chendu and mala, and supplies them to contractors who decorate marriage halls. She started this work when her daughter was one year old, and by now, she has managed to accumulate 30 grams of gold jewellery. Her ambition is to save at least 80 grams by the time her daughter reaches marriageable age.

Venkatramani was our cook during a time when Mithila was unwell. His only condition for working with us was that he be granted 20 days of leave per year to participate in five major temple festivals. During these festivals, he worked as part of a team of cooks preparing food for devotees. After each four-day trip, he earned enough to buy 5 grams of gold for his 16-year-old daughter, who was studying in the 10th grade. He planned to marry her off to his sister’s son in a couple of years, by which time he hoped save at least 100 grams of gold.

Pooja, our maidservant, is in her early thirties. She has a seven-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son. She works in five households and manages to hide her real income from her husband. Every month, she leaves ₹5,000 with my daughter for safekeeping and has saved ₹1,50,000 in the last two years. Recently, she borrowed ₹20,000 from my daughter, intending to use her savings and the borrowed amount to buy gold for her daughter. In fact, this very act inspired me to write this article.

Does this mean the lure of gold exists only among the poor? Not at all. Middle-class families participate in SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) programs offered by reputed jewellers—not necessarily because they need the gold but as insurance against personal emergencies or financial upheavals in the country. The very rich invest in gold bars, while the middle class invests in jewellery, gold coins, and bonds. The poor, however, primarily save their wealth in the form of gold jewellery. Additionally, gold jewellery is tax-exempt as long as it is accounted for.

In our patriarchal society, gold has historically been given to girls as compensation for the denial of property rights, as a status symbol, and as a source of financial security. It is quite easy to get bank loans against Gold. It is also considered auspicious. Interestingly, today even men have begun wearing gold chains, bracelets, and other accessories, whereas only rings were common for men 50 years ago.

India has a strong relationship with gold, and officially, we are among the top ten countries with gold reserves. India holds 840 tons of gold, compared to the 8,100 tons held by the USA and 2,264 tons by China. Over time, we have shifted 60% of our gold reserves to domestic vaults due to uncertainties in the global order, and it’s likely only a matter of time before the entirety is stored within the country.

Now hold your breath! Reliable and modest estimates suggest that Indian households collectively hold a staggering 27,000 tons of gold, representing approximately 11% of the world’s total gold. This is despite the large-scale looting of gold by invaders over centuries.

The book A Forgotten Empire by Robert Sewell, a British civil servant, recounts the grandeur of the Vijayanagar Empire as described by Portuguese travellers. It is said that women from that era suffered hunchback from bearing the weight of their jewellery. One wonders, where has all that gold gone? Today, women like Mallika, Pooja, and countless others are slowly but surely contributing to the unofficial gold reserves of the country. Hats off to them!

Isn’t it, therefore, fair to say that India is a rich country full of poor people?

 

Squirrel away is a lovely expression I am hearing after a long time. If as a team they squirrel away[sorry I am borrowing your expression-can't resist it] our Gold reserves will double.China is the only country which has more household reserves than us.