RACK RAIDER

What Love Pearl Where Pantaloons, Landmark, Big Bazaar, Kriti How much Rs 450

If surprise parties and diamonds have failed to impress her, present her a Love Pearl (picture left by Rashbehari Das) to win that elusive heart.

Say you went deep-sea diving to get it especially for her and she just has to believe you for this jewel comes firmly sealed in a real seashell. You needn?t tell her that the pearl inside the shell is cultured and that you just lifted it off the city racks!

Available in a small romantic transparent pack adorned with vibrant flowers, the shell is preserved in a sealed tin box which contains a combination of alcohol and water. One needs to go through quite a drill to unearth the precious pearl, though.

The sealed pack needs to be opened, the shell needs to be literally broken and then the object of desire needs to be scooped out of the jelly and cleansed of the muck.

There are illustrated instructions on the pack of course, as to how you are supposed to go about unearthing it. But we are afraid you have to rely solely on the figurative, for the facts are inscribed in Chinese!

Yes, Love Pearl is an Oriental import and comes with its own sense of colour. White stands for help, cream signifies happiness, peach is for love, lavender is for wisdom and gold obviously means wealth ? five colours in which the pearls come.

But there is no way to crack the code till the last moment for the seashell is firmly shut and opens only for the proud recipient. So, you cannot really choose the colour of the pearl while buying it and hence have to rely on your luck if you want to put across a particular message.

The pack, priced at Rs 450, also comes with a sparkling white metal chain and a cage-like locket, to pop the pearl in. A little plastic spade is thoughtfully packed in and it comes in handy to pull out the pearl from the jelly, which otherwise would be quite a messy affair.

If she still doesn?t believe you battled the sharks to prove your love, wait till the shell starts to stink once you have opened it, as only a real one would. You could also present a certificate of authenticity along with your gift, but this too is in Chinese.