The Journey of the Bangle

It arrived just morning, after being moulded, the gems set and it burnished to be shiny and attractive.

It was a bracelet. Not precious. Just an ordinary 'junk jewellery', one among the millions that fill the shops and find their ways into homes, sometimes being cherished, sometimes forgotten. What would the fate of this one be? Did even its maker wonder? He just pocketed his wages and headed out to the nearby shop selling drinks.

What about the man who ordered the worker? He had an eye for beauty, of course. But it did not send him into raptures. It did not elevate him. It was routine work he only saw if it will sell and if he could make a profit. He knew it was worth only so much time and effort.

The shopkeeper, ah! He lived by it. And when it arrived, he examined and knew it would catch the eye of some young girl out to impress the world with her confidence and style but not enough money to go after the real thing.

At such a moment, when the shopkeeper was examining the bangle, Saudamini entered. She had invited 21 married women for a Devi puja that Friday and she would need as many pairs of bangles, a little more - a lot more, in fact - for you did not count the number of bangles they picked up. Some picked up only two, but some liked six, and some even a dozen for each hand. They liked to have a choice of colours. She ran riot through the shop, selecting a wide variety of colours in large numbers and different sizes - for hands that ranged from fat to fatter.

The shopkeeper set aside this new bracelet to get her bill ready. Saudamini picked it up and examined it. She found it attractive, the broad bracelet with different coloured large stones making it look royal. An elastic band held it together, and so would fit a girl from 13-18 years easily. Her granddaughter was just 14 and... She loved the way the stones caught the light and winked at her. She got that packed too, all the while knowing she would have to cross the hurdle that was her daughter!

She went straight to her daughter Radha's house. Over a hot cup of coffee, she showed her minimalist daughter her purchases and secretly enjoyed Radha's forced 'ahs' and 'oohs' at this extravagance. She was also glad that today her daughter was not in a mood to lecture her on wasting earth's resources. So, she pulled out the bracelet a little more confidently. "I got this for Sakshi," she said and handed it to Radha.

Radha looked at it and rolled her eyes. "Why now? She doesn't need one and there is no occasion..."

"I don't need an occasion to give my granddaughter some love."

Radha couldn't argue with sentiments and kept it on the table. "I am sure she will love it, but I just don't think she is going to have many occasions to wear it."

Well, Saudamini was aware of it. She kept gifting her granddaughter beautiful trinkets and saw only a few once in a while. But that couldn't take the joy away from giving, could it?

She was gratified when Sakshi sent a picture of hers with the bracelet gracing her wrist. It looked so elegant!

"Keep it somewhere carefully," Radha told Sakshi. "Never expose it to water. It may blacken," she explained. So it went into a box with other trinkets and was kept very safely on the dressing table.

Every time spring cleaning happened, the box got moved around, rarely opened, its contents never even remembered. Then one day, two years later, Radha brought her recently widowed mother-in-law Vimala home to live with them and gave her the spare bedroom. The dressing table with the box had landed up in this room. As Vimala went about setting the room to her taste, she saw the box and was fascinated by it. She opened it and the trinkets glittered as good as new. The bracelet caught her eye. She called Sakshi. "Are these yours?"

Sakshi looked at it blankly, not remembering any of the pieces. "I will ask amma," she said and took it away, with Vimala in tow.

Radha stared at it with equal puzzlement. "You or my mother must have given them," she told her mother-in-law, trying to jog her memory. "I don't think I did," Vimala said.

"Then must be my mother. Sakshi, Manju was asking for your old clothes for her daughter. You can give these to her too. She may at least use it," Radha said, referring to the maid.

Vimala was shocked. "They look new! And you say your mother gave them..."

Radha looked at her mother-in-law and worded her response carefully, "In all these years, Sakshi didn't feel the need to wear them. At least somebody else may appreciate it better."

Her 13-year-old son Adit glanced at the jewels and picked up the bracelet. An Avengers fan, he exclaimed, "This looks like the Thanos ring! I am going to be all powerful!" he said and slipped the bracelet  into his hand.

"Thanos has a ring," Sakshi said with a superior air.

"Hah! But his fingers are as wide as my wrist so it will be a bracelet for me!" and made a face.

For the next two days, he walked around with the bracelet and tried to kill Sakshi by crushing her skull. Sakshi swatted his hand away and then, anticipating him, head butted him every time he raised his hand. The bickering between the two was worse than between Captain America and Iron Man. Radha had to keep warning them off.

Once he got bored of the game, Radha found it lying around carelessly. "If you don't want it, at least hand it to Manju," she admonished Adit.

"It is Sakshi's. She may want it!"

Sakshi shouted from her corner of the room, "I don't want it. You took it saying it is Thanos bracelet. If you don't want it, throw it."

Thud!

Adit threw it. Radha went livid. "Why did you throw it?"

"Sakshi said I could throw it."

"Are you stupid?" and a long lecture followed despite Adit drifting off mentally half way through. Radha examined the bracelet and found the damage to be negligible. Just then Manju walked in. "Here, Manju, do you think your daughter will wear this? This just fell and there is a small crack here," she said, showing the crack.

Manju's face blossomed into a bright smile. "She will love it," she said. Radha quickly gave her the rest of the trinkets with the box.

Manju couldn't wait to give the box of treasure to her daughter Kalpana, who became very excited and spent the whole day trying them on. The bangle found the pride of place amongst her special dresses, to be worn on a special occasion. She flashed her wrist to show her confidence and style though she could not afford anything more.