The gold standard for innovation

Five centuries ago, the Europeans’ search for El Dorado — a mythical construct that went from a golden man to a city to an empire — led to the mapping of many parts of South America, especially the Amazon river.

The current lust for gold in India also has strong geographical and technological angles, considering smugglers are arriving from all parts of the world with the aureate contraband hidden in ingenious ways.

No wonder Indian customs officials now have to be up to date with all the latest scientific advances: gold is not merely sought to be sneaked in via hollow bicycle parts, hollow handbags or vacuum cleaner pipes — not all smugglers are tech-savvy — but also in paste and dust form.


Reassuringly, inspectors invariably sniff gold when zeroing in on passengers with odd plaster casts on their limbs at airports in south India. Nickel-coated gold shirt buttons (recently seized at Imphal airport) are quite innovative but the gold medal for the most ingenious disguise must go to those who mixed granules of the coveted yellow metal in orange-flavoured powdered drink packets, honey and coffee.

As couriers do not buy the metal but merely transport it, even getting caught for this bailable offence is not a deterrent, given the golden reward for getting away with it. This talent for innovation and daring should be harnessed for a better cause.