LIKE a diamond in the sky -- was one of my favourite rhymes as a child about the little stars which twinkled and twinkled and I could watch with wonder from my bedroom windows on starfull nights. It was only when I grew up I learnt that the anoints in India knew more about diamonds and jewels, their gods and goddesses were always bedecked with jewels and ornament and through the language of jewels they also sent messages. Of course the Chinese, who could boast a civilization equally anoint as the Indians, also know the language of gems, I was told.

So I tried to pursue the subject further and found it more and more interesting and absorbing. I found that India was and is among the greatest land of jewellers in the world and even today the Indian diamond and jewel craft are rated among the highest in the world. In fact, some of the dominating jewellers’ firms even in North America and Europe included jewellers of Indian origin. India itself produces a variety of jewels. Even some of the gems and jewels, not produced in India, are sent to this country for cutting, setting and polishing and sent back to the world famous jewel marts to be sold as French, Italian and American jewellery.

The ancient Chinese and Egyptians were among those who used the language of jewels as masterfully as the Indians. Many Chinese sacrificial robes, several centuries old, have been embroidered with real jewels. The Egyptian pyramids, containing the great wealth, fortune and splendour of the Pharaonic civilization, were looted and plundered over the centuries because jewels were considered auspicious and sometimes evil. Sapphires were among the most meaningful and popular jewels in ancient times. According to great jewelers of India, the sapphire stands for fidelity and truth and the man who gives a sapphire ring to his beloved promises, in the language of the jewels, to be faithful to her for a lifetime, like the sapphire.

Most jewels, according to Indian jewel lore, stand for some virtues of another and specially the truth. The diamond, in Indian lore, also stands for truth and clarity of judgment. The diamonds are called "the jewels of the mind" and often when you want to show your respect to a person in Indian language of jewels you call him "jewel of a man" or "like a diamond". That means you respect the qualities and heart of that person, his or her intellect, and of course your love. The phrase "diamonds are forever" also means lasting and steadfast bonds of loyal and love.

Ruby is a jewel which speaks the tender language of love and care. If you give a ruby as a gift to a woman, you are telling her in the language of the jewels that you care for her. And if you add a diamond to a ruby as a gift it means you are admitted by her beauty and you express your love for her. If you present her with an ornament with a number of rubies set in it, that would mean you want your love will deepen from day to day. Rubies and sapphires together symbolise everlasting love.

Emeralds mean adventure, pearls mean innocence and aqua marines are get ‘quiet thought’. Good for sending to a friend in Pakistan, for the message would be "you are one in thought" or "we want to win each other’s heart’.

Welcome summer, with deepening water crisis

How good are grandpas?