Gold Diggers

Have you ever wondered why Desis are gold diggers?

@sanjenasathian's debut novel (available today!) artfully answers questions about assimilation, diaspora identity, and the value of ambition. Its premise also inspired us to ask the question: how and why did gold become so ingrained into Desi culture ?

Back in the day, merchants from across the globe came to the Indian subcontinent to acquire luxury commodities like textiles and spices. Desis were largely self-sufficient, though, so locals didn’t really need the goods foreign merchants had to offer. Instead, local traders asked for gold and silver.

And boy did those foreign merchants deliver. Pliny the Elder, a Roman philosopher, bitingly called the subcontinent “the sink of the world’s gold.”

There’s only so much gold you can store in vaults, though, so Desis started bedazzling everything and anything. Nobles decked themselves out in gold jewelry, tailors wove gold thread into clothing, and painters covered their works in gold leaf. There was so much gold lying around, Shah Jahan used bars to weigh himself.

The party came to an end in the 18th century, however, when local production was destroyed in favour of British trading interests. In the 19th century, India was forced to import manufactured goods for the first time in its history, and the age-old flow of bullion was disrupted. The gold sink had become a gold sieve.

But old habits die hard. Whether you’re in the homeland or part of the diaspora, gold still plays a key role in Desi weddings, religious ceremonies, and fashion. Desis in American suburbs are so well-known for their jewelry collections that they have been targeted by burglary rings.

Those gold thefts play a key role in Sathian's novel. So go out and buy Gold Diggers at a local bookstore near you. According to the Washington Post, the novel is worth its weight in gold.