The Coral Necklace

The diamond necklace is what we often hear about! Since our elementary education, in various languages with varying characters!

But recently I encountered with a situation in my own life which is worth a story telling session... A story about the Coral Necklace! I initially thought of naming the story as ‘showers of blessing’ because the showers of blessings were felt...

As a Child, I fantasised a wedding like my mother’s wedding... Just like all other little girls who looked upon their mothers as role models in case of fashion, intelligence, strength, beauty etc. I admired the sari, the jewellery and the flowers she wore on her wedding day...What a beauty!

This was also a period of my life where possessiveness and selfishness were finding their way in. That mere innocence of a child was melting away and I dint feel the same about the people around me. Now I say that my family consists of my parents, brother, sister and grandmother but at that point of time, I felt like my sister’s caretaker, my mother’s gardener and my father’s diver were also a part of my family. They were home every morning before I opened my eyes and helped my family in everything they wanted. I was more than happy when my parents helped these extended family members financially or otherwise. I always thought these are the people who will be there forever to take care of our house and the people in it. I was so close to all of them that I used to shop with them, dine with them and have many good memories of the time I’ve spent with them as a child.

The situation changed with the marriage of our gardener’s daughter. My parents were not in a situation to support them financially and conduct the marriage entirely or even a hold a major chunk of the expenses. My mother, duty bound, took a drastic step by giving away her coral necklace to the bride!!! Imagine!!! Like a little girl of 9 years old!!! Worse, I got to know about the act after several days... I was fuming...upset...

I always dreamt of legacies...like in movies! Especially the British ones where a necklace, a pendant, a clock, or a hair clip is passed on to the future generations... I thought the coral necklace was one of those and I could not believe that my mother felt nothing at all about it... No sentiments attached! I screamed aloud and cried but the answer I got from my mother was ‘My father gave me the coral necklace and I have all the right to do anything with it. Likewise your father will give you jewellery for your wedding and you can do anything you wish to do with it’. Trust me that was no consolation...How will I make my mother understand the meaning of legacy??? Now I am smiling :)

It has been so many years now...the gardener and his family have gone with the wind...his daughter’s dint want their father to be a gardener as they got married to educated men. Gardening is unprofessional apparently...I made sure I used every opportunity to tell my mother she was wrong while she kept her silence with a smile...

Now it is time for me to get married!

Like a child, I still fantasy a coral necklace. Every time we go jewellery shopping, I look around for a coral necklace and every time the shopkeeper gives a lame answer...it is out of fashion! Do I care?

Finally, the last bit of jewellery shopping is going on with the rising gold prises and to my surprise, I see an antique piece! Yes! An antique coral necklace in the corner most part of a glass shelf in Vumudi Bengaru...To make it sound more dramatic I can say that it was my mom’s coral necklace...But somehow this is no fairy tale but a true story :P

The Lord never punished me for being so materialistic and nagging my mother for so many years... through this act – ‘shower of blessing’ I feel like the Lord is reassuring me that everything is in his hands...he has the right to give things and take away things. The Lord just helped the gardener and his family through my mother.

It takes time but the Lord takes care of every wish, every drop of tear and rewards every right action!