Her vermillion-coloured sari matches the tikka on her forehead, even as the ruby and diamond ear studs in her ears twinkle ever so lightly. But it is the ‘Avalakki sara’ around Lakshmi Krishnappa’s neck that is the star here, she insists. “Avalakkai translates to poha or flattened rice. Any kind of chain is referred to as sara in Kannada. This jewellery piece gets its name from the rice bead shape,” explains the Bangalore-based Krishnappa.

Pooja Mishra (below) says she owns some beautiful heirloom jewellery — including a silver cummerbund which she now wears as a necklace (in pic) and a pair of kadas (bangles) that her nani (maternal grandmother) handed over to her mother and her mother to Mishra.