Diamond baron celebrates sons' marriage in novel way

SURAT: For the sake of prestige and to show off, many diamond barons send diamond-studded invitation cards to invite VIP guests to marriages in their families. However, a diamond baron has thought of a grander way of sending the invitation.
The invitation card of Harikrishna Diamonds of Dholakia family for a marriage reception to be held on November 24 is unique.With a fancy cover, the card besides having information about place and time of marriage reception contains some of the best contemporary writers' new work.
Savji Dholakia spent six months in contacting writers and asking them to pen their best work for a private publication to celebrate the marriages of three sons of his two brothers in Singapore on November 18.
"A card just serves a purpose and is not preserved for lifetime, said Savji Dholakia of Harikrishna Diamonds, a Rs 1,500 crore firm. "Our intention is to create an urge among people to read and gain knowledge," he added.
Dholakias have been bringing out a book during a marriage in the family. During the weddings of three daughters of the family, they had sent three books named 'Dikri Atle Dikri' (daughter means daughter ), 'Dikri Wahal No Dariyo' ( daughter is an ocean of love ) and 'Lagna Sagar' (ocean of marriage) to the invitees.
The latest book named Jeevan Mangalya (life's beauty and welfare) contains articles by Gunwant Shah, Kundanika Kapadia, Mohammad Mankad, Bhagwatikumar Sharma and Gulabdas Broker among others.
About 3,000 copies of the book have been printed and each costs Rs 500.
"Only beloved ones are called at the marriage feast. A marriage celebration is said to be complete when we give something invaluable to the invitees too. By providing a book of writings of well-known authors to the invitees, we achieve our objective," Dholakia said.
Singapore sojourn
SURAT: Savji Dholakia took at least 400 members of his family and 150 staff members to Singapore for the marriages of three sons of his two brothers. Savji Dholakia said, "My main aim was to take the elders in the family and others to join in the celebration in a foreign land. Many would have never got a chance to visit a foreign country in their lifetime, but for this trip." Even young girls and women in their 60s, who work in farmlands in Saurashtra and belong to our extended family were taken. "God has given us wealth and this is our way of sharing it with others," Dholakia added.