Jewellery shops in this town recorded brisk sale of gold ornaments on the Akshaya Tritiya day on Friday which is believed by many to be an auspicious day for buying gold ornaments, though sceptics highlighted that the idea of a propitious day for buying gold is a superstition being promoted by commercial interests.
Leading jewellers in the town were crowded with people out to buy the yellow metal on the Akshaya Tritiya which many say was not known in this part of the region till recent years. The soaring price of gold did not dampen the enthusiasm of people to buy gold on this day. Some of the leading jewellery shops did arrangements to attract more customers to their shops.
The sceptics here say that the day observed in North India for beginning new ventures and for other auspicious occasions has been deliberately promoted by commercial interests with commercial motives in mind. How this day has become a day for buying gold in the State is a matter to be seriously looked into, they point out.
The Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP) district committee brought this issue to the public in the form of a street play that highlight the vulnerability of Malayalis to superstitious thinking. The play ‘Ningalenne Kallanaakki’ (You made me a thief) was staged in different parts of the town on May 5 to expose the superstitious mindset that is being exploited for selling gold. The plot of the play is centered on the plight of a woman whose gold ornament purchased with money she took as loan from Kudumbasree unit has been stolen. A woman who has more pressing needs to turn her attention to, she buys gold under the influence of advertisements of jewellers. The 15-minute play concludes with a question as to why Malayalis are becoming easy preys to superstitions.
The play was enacted by V.K. Kunhikrishnan, Prakashan Chengal, Sudheer Babu Naniyur, Suresh Babu Kolassery, Suresh Chendayad and Geetha. V.V. Sreenivasan and Prabhakaran Kovur directed the play.
