Diamonds are a girl's best friend

A year into her marriage and Lucky begins to feel restless. With the novelty of being a new bride wearing off, she is itching to get her hands on to some real work. So Vicki gives her one of the lame duck family companies to run hoping that she would soon get bored of it. Unfortunately for him, Lucky is made of sterner stuff and actually wants to get the business up and running. But Lucky runs into stiff opposition from Vicki and finally it is Arun, her father- in- law who gives her the support she wants ( P.90-92). So Lucky begins a new stage in her life..........the revival of Fairdeal, a company dealing in gems and jewelry. Karsan Kaka, one of the suppliers helps her with the supply of diamonds from a unit in Khandesh.(p.95)

Diamonds have been mined in India since time immemorial:in fact, it is one of the earliest places in the world to have mines. Golconda near Hyderabad has long been famous for its diamonds particularly the Koh-i-Noor, a humongous oval cut gem which is now found in the Monarch's State Crown kept with the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.

There are several other famous diamonds from India - the Nassak which was originally adorned Shiva's statue at the Trimbakeshwar Temple near Nasik ( hence its name)

The Orloff which was a whopping 300 carats when it was originally found also came from India and somehow found its way to the imperial crown of Russia via Amsterdam!

Another famous Indian diamond is the Regent which found its way to the Crown of France. Once again this was discovered by a slave in the Golconda mines who took it out of the mine by hiding it in the bandages of a self inflicted wound on his leg! Hoping to buy his way to freedom, the slave sold it to a seafaring captain. Unfortunately greed got the better of the captain who ultimately killed the slave and sold the gemstone to a diamond dealer. Eventually this stone was sold to Governor Pitt in Madras who sent it off to London to be cut into smaller stones. One of these stones was sold to Phillip II Duke of Orleans, then known as Regent of France ( hence the name). Today this diamond can be seen at the Louvre.

There are several superstitions associated with diamonds and jewelers sometimes advise a prospective client to keep the stone under his/her pillow for a week to see the effects of the stone.

But there is no denying that diamonds are a girl's best friend.

All photos have been taken off the web