Cajita:

Interview:

Rationale:

Dear diary,
People say, “diamonds are a girl’s best friend” .But in my case, and probably girls who are not white (no shade to anyone) it’s gold. Having gold and giving pieces of gold jewelry is a very old and long standing tradition in desi culture (desi meaning people who are from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh). Most if not all desi women have a collection of jewelry that they have since they got married, and the jewelry shown by my massi(auntie) and my mom was her wedding jewelry and their own pieces of jewelry that they got for themselves that were almost like statement pieces. In the video we talked about when a wedding rolls around the groom’s side will give the bride a huge amount of jewelry and a gown to wear to the actual wedding. Our money goes mostly to weddings, and whether we like it or not brown parents will spend half of their life’s savings on us….

Jewelry is so special to desi women because it’s almost like a financial investment for themselves.When it’s time to buy new  jewelry they trade off their old pieces and get new pieces based on the weight of their old ones. Certain necklaces and pendants do have very little details, and as time goes by they will unfortunately become dull and maybe break a bead or two. And if that ever does happen (which it does) you could send it back to Pakistan (in my case)and have it fixed by a jeweler.

When I was little my mom always wore sets of Kara’s on her arm, and always and forever had a nose piercing that came with the set of karas that her mother-in-law, my daadi(paternal grandmother) gave her.And when I asked her why she wore them on her arms with she said because they looked beautiful. 

I feel very connected to my auntie especially since she helped raise me and the language we speak (punjabi) ties us closer. It felt more like a conversation than an interview, and I decided to conduct the interview the same way too. It was supposed to be laid back, and I hoped to make it seem like a normal day where we would lay out her collection of jewelry and admire the details of the bangles, earrings, and necklaces.Talk about what kinds of jewelry she wanted to buy in the future. Punjabi has certain phrases that if you directly translate them into english that sound really weird but that doesn’t mean I can’t.