more to life than diamonds

Why are diamonds considered a girl's best friend?

Don't get me wrong, I like jewelry as much as the next girl. I adore the gorgeous pieces that adorn the store shelves these days. More so with the trend for "statement pieces" and elegant looks. But if you turn to any of the advertising on television or the radio, diamond jewelry seems to be the one-stop-solution for anything and everything - whether it's a forgotten anniversary, or a last minute Diwali gift, or even getting random brownie points with the wife. 

The problem I have with these advertising messages is two-fold.

One, it isn't just diamonds that look good on jewelry. Up to the first 20-25 years of life, most girls are happier with chunky silver jewelry, beads, artificial stuff and these days stores like Accessorize, Zara, Vero Moda, Forever 21 and Mango provide interesting enough pieces at (relatively) affordable prices. And even among the more grown up women, the more exquisite and interesting pieces they own may not even be diamonds - instead a strings of pearls, or a set with rubies, sapphire and other precious stones may be more sought after.

And two, girls love other things in life too! Diamonds or jewelry every time is not exciting. Takes away from the "special feeling" factor. Think about it, getting a nice Armani exclusive for him may be just the right gift for a particular special occasion like a big promotion or a new job. But, buying a shirt (albeit an Armani or Gucci) every time is just so unimaginative.

I don't know if I'm an exception to the rule, but I definitely get more excited with gifts that are personalized and more thought through than jewelry. Gift me a new gadget and see me jump with joy. Buy me an adorable pair of heels and see how much I appreciate you. Bags, dresses.. hell even a much awaited PS3 game sometimes may be more appreciated than a piece of pretty rock that I mostly keep locked up somewhere. And if it has to be that expensive a gift, then an adorable Beetle or a Mini Cooper would be much appreciated, thank you very much! ;)

Judgmental as a four letter word

If you ask someone for mantras to being a better person, one of the things on their list will most probably be - Never Be Judgmental. And it's appears to be a very obvious thing that one should do. We all know how easy it is to spend time judging others for what they do, what they say, what they wear, what they eat, whatever. But, we also know that everyone has their own lives to battle through, and you're probably being unfair to them by just judging. 

So yes, you will be a better person if you stop being judgmental and let people be. But have you ever considered how difficult it is to truly do that? 

Think about it. For example, an elder in my family, whom I respect a lot, is convinced that by giving up something dear to them, they can coax or urge the powers that be into solving some problems. So for example, I really love coffee, but I'm going through a bad phase where my stock investments are losing a lot of money. I promise to give up coffee, and the powers that be ensure that my losses reduce. A lot of people would smirk, or even outright laugh at such a notion. I don't need to agree with the concept, but that needn't make it alright for me to deride someone's beliefs. In fact to be truly non-judgmental, I should basically not tell them, directly or indirectly, to give up this superstition. Not even in a case like this where it may be such an obvious superstitious belief which has no scientific backing. Because hey, no judging means no judging...

Tell me, isn't that difficult?! It's damn near impossible in my books! But, to be a better person I must not judge. Ever.

And when you ask someone to not be judgmental, aren't you yourself in a way judging them for being judgmental!

The point is that taking the "Never Be Judgmental" ideology to an extreme, can actually back fire. If everyone just accepted everyone else's ways we would have no debates, no thinkers, no development, no breaking-the-mould. Just being. So, let's not Never Be Judgmental. Let's just aim to be a little more understanding than we are. And keep ourselves some room for a good old fashioned judgementing when it's truly needed.