DIAMONDS
ARE FOREVER
Let us hear an old story from India.
One day, a poor farmer was walking on a muddy path near the forest.
At one point, he stumbled on a stone on the path and was injured in his toe. He started cursing all the unknown people who have placed the stone on the path, and held his toe in pain for some time. Then, he left further, muttering epithets against the stone and the people who have placed it on the path.
The stone was in the middle of the path. Another farmer went by the path, saw the stone in the middle, carefully went around avoiding it and went off further.
Then, a sage went on the same path, saw the stone, smiled at it, and went off. The wise sage knew all about the stone.
Then, a rich merchant passed that way, saw the stone and instantly knew that it was not an ordinary stone. It must be a valuable, precious stone. He took it home, got it polished secretly and got it evaluated. The valuers told him that it was one of the most precious diamonds in the world and its value far exceeds the total value of the Kingdom itself.
Now, the rich merchant was very happy in his heart but was still afraid that some robbers will steal away his Diamond. He lost all his sleep. Ancient Tales say that - Great Diamonds always have some effects on its Possessor and its entire surroundings.
The Merchant was unable to sleep in his house with the Diamond. Days were passing and the merchant’s worries were increasing. One day, the wise saint was passing through that town and the merchant invited him in to his own home.
The merchant narrated the whole story of the Diamond and sought the advice of the sage. The Sage advised him to give it up either to the King or the God – and regain his peace.
The merchant followed the advice and gave it up to the King – and remained peaceful and happy ever after.
The diamond was never with any one King. It was going from one King to another – during their wars and was a perpetual source of strife between countries.
Some kings hid the diamonds in the custody of the deities of the temples – and remained peaceful themselves.
The moral of the story is Diamonds are forever – but you are not.
They are of very little value to you – though they look so valuable. For an Individual - they are of No use. They lie with you as dead assets.
There are many Great Diamonds to day, in various parts of the world and some of them have originated in India.
What are these Great Diamonds doing today? They are all Idle. Let us look at 10 Great Diamonds :
The 10 Greatest Diamonds
DRESDEN : It weighs 41 carats. It is cut in a pear shape and has a beautiful emerald-green color. It may have originated in India. It is now kept in the Green Hall in Dresden.
HOPE : It weighs 45.52 carats. It is now in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. It has an emerald cut and is a deep blue color
CULLINAN-I : It weighs 520.02 carats It is a pear shaped fine white diamond. It was cut from the largest rough diamond ever found, the Cullinan, which weighed 3106 carats or over 1 ¼ pounds. The Cullinan I is kept in the Tower of London – and is by far the largest cut diamond in the world.
SANCY : It weighs 55 carata. It is also in a pear shape. The stone is with the Astor family of London since 1906.
TIFFANY :It comes from Kimberley mine in South Africa. It weighs 128.51 carats. It is a yellow- orange, almost amber, colored Diamond. It was cut from a piece of rough stone that weighed 287.42 carats. It has 90 facets and was bought by the jewelers, Tiffany of New York.
KOH-I-NOOR : Probably mined near Krishna River. Current, reduced weight is 109 carat. Koh-i-noor means mountain of light. It is Oval, and brilliantly cut. It was with the Emperor in Delhi for some time. Then stolen to Iran. From Iran it was acquired by Afghans, who lost it to Indian rulers, who then came under British rule in 1849 and placed the diamond among the crown jewels.
CULLINAN IV : It is one of the 105 stones that were cut from the greatest piece of rough diamond ever found (along with cullinan I). It weighs 63.60 carats. It was once in the crown of Queen Mary. It is stored in the Tower of London.
NASSAK : It originally weighed over 90 carats. It has a rounded-corner triangular shape. It was earlier in a Temple of Shiva. It is in private possession in the United States ever since 1927.
SHAH : This diamond came from India and weigh 88.70 carats. It is partly polished along its cleavage planes. It has the names of three monarchs engraved on it, including the Shah of Persia. It is now in the Kremlin in Moscow.
FLORENTINE : It weighs 137.27 carats – and is a yellow diamond. In 1657, it was said to be in the possession of the Medici family in Florence (hence the name). During the 18th century, it was in the Halsburg crown. It was then used as a brooch. Its present whereabouts are unknown.
Some Books on Diamonds mention names like Braganza;Matan;Stewart and many others. There are diamonds, and diamonds and diamonds all over the world – in supposedly safe hands. Readers having better Info may inform this Blog on any of these diamonds.
What are the Possessors doing with these Diamonds?
Just Nothing. Everything else in the world is put to some use. But, not diamonds. Small diamonds have some Industrial uses. True. But, large Diamonds. Nil. No use at all.
The farmer who hit the diamond with his toe, suffered, but little. The farmer who avoided it slept peacefully always. The sage who never bothered about it – knowing its nature, always sleep peacefully. But, not the rich merchant. Not the king. It was as useless to them as it was to the farmer and the sage. But, they suffered because of the Diamond. The more the attachment to it, the more the suffering.
For an Individual – at least Gold, silver etc are of some tradable value, and value as ornaments. But not big Diamonds.
For a nation, all these are of little value.
What adds value to a Nation is – the productive work done by its citizens; the value of food grains, industrial products, cars, planes, roads, bridges, electricity, houses, medicines, hospitals, schools, clothes etc produced and actually enjoyed by its citizens.
America became rich because of the Intelligent, smart, productive work of its citizens – not because of Diamonds. So, is the case with other developed Nations like Japan.
For the same reason (in the opposite)– many countries producing diamonds are still struggling – as poor countries, despite Diamonds.
Assume, India discovers diamonds and other treasures worth a few crores of crores of rupees – will we have schools, colleges, medicines, roads, houses, food grains etc? Definitely Not. These must come from our sweat and toil – not from treasures.
Unearned Incomes and Wealth are the most dangerous thieves of the prosperity of any Nation. If India is still “developing”, it is because, many people are after unearned Incomes and wealth of various Kinds. It makes many people poor and some people rich. Over all, the Nation remains where it is.
Diamonds are useless, because they do not depreciate. When they become useful in Industries, they start depreciating. Anything which does not depreciate much, can not be used much – and yields very less value.
Whatever we create – also depreciates. And, in depreciating, gives us some use; some satisfaction.
We must all become creators of Useful Assets – and use them. Any country can overtake any other country in development – if its people star doing intelligent, smart, work together.
India too can.
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