If being around Rakesh, Sonali and their family was not enough of a blessing, I was given a really special gift from Abel, Sonali's brother. He works in the precious stone business, which India is a world-leader in.  He took me to their old factory in Jaipur where they have been making jewelry by hand for over 100 years to show me how they do it.  When you look at the finished products, it's really hard to believe that they are made by hand.  The precision of the cuts are just like they came from a machine.   They made jewelry for my mom, two sister-in-laws, and myself.  The process started by picking out the raw stones.  We looked in the light for the greenest emeralds, with the fewest imperfections in them.  Next we decided which cut to do.  For three pair of earrings, we did one circle, one square and one heart shaped cut.  I went with an emerald cut ring, because I always wear rings.  I saw each piece be handcrafted by the masters themselves.  To become a master, someone must work on perfecting this craft over 10-20 years. There were three men working; one would shape the jewelry on a hand spun wheel, and the other two finished the pieces by polishing them.  Each finished piece was set in a delicate gold setting. They let me jump in at times to try and shape it on the wheel, but they said I was horrible, hahaha. I was.  I kept dropping the stones in the water and my movements were far from smooth and consistent.  It drew a crowd of about 20 bystanders outside, which was pretty funny.  Hey, I tried. Abel's enthusiasm was so sweet.  He was overwhelmed with excitement about this gift for us.  "Glory be to God" is what he would say anytime I would express my appreciation.      Tags: India