Born
fourth
to a family of six,
my mother the only
daughter, is the only surviving direct descendant of the Imperial Lao family
in Sou Tao,
China .
Having
fled China to arrive in Indonesia during the Koumintang
rule, turned out another harrowing experience
during the Japanese occupation of the South East Asian region .
When I
turned 5, my mother decided to set up a jewellery outlet with some of the six
huge urns of treasures her mother had brought .
Hence began my first experience in stringing pearls at the age of
eight . The training in identifying the four “C’s”
– Clarity, Carat , Colour and Cut was the natural
progression from there , starting with Sapphires , Rubies and Diamonds .
Later, as my mother went on her ventures into the wild jungle tracks for
Tourmalines and other primary finds , interests in
these fields grew with the fashioning of the some of the most exquisite
antique gems into jewellery.
Qualified in hairdressing , then married and left to join my husband’s family
living in Zambia , we lived in the Eastern Province where rich deposits of
Aquamarine , Tourmaline, Spessartite ( Orange
Garnet ),
Garnet,
Citrine,Quartz
, Rose Quartz and
some traces of gold . Strewn across Zambia, are finds of fine quality
Emeralds, the world’s top quality Amethyst.
In
1985, when the mining laws were eased to accommodate foreign investments, an
office was set up in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Weekends would find me in
different parts of the Eastern Province, hunting for materials.
Later , when it was “safer” investments went into
Emerald mining in
Kapiri
Mposhi
in Central Province. One week , the place had a
hill and the next, it was a huge hole!!
In 1989, during the operating period of my
Atmakaraka , Moon
, I found spirituality . Already chanting the mahamantra
and Nrshinga
, I met with two challenges at gun points at my place of work two years
later. Safe and feeling sorry for myself , I moved
back to the farm.
Much
later in 1996 after a three and half year battle for a mining licence it was
finally granted to the very few ladies in mining and I was probably the only
foreign lady at that ! Most of the superfine
materials are sold to the German market and the lower grades to
Jaipur,
India where they fashioned into cabochons, beads ,
carvings etc.
The following year saw my first meeting with my Guru in
Vrindavan. I had gone there to meet with the number three of my older
siblings , Bhima, the
only student for the past 22 years to Guru Jagdish
Narayana Misra. The
following evening,after
Guruji had seen my Vedic chart , he announced that
I was to be his second and last student with whom he will impart his secrets
of yantras and japas .
Six weeks past and lakhs of japas later, I was to
return to Vrindavan to meet with some of the
Achayas and to chant with them at a temple in East
Gate. Then was a borne a new angle in my life .
Guruji
rekindled my interest in astrology after a lull of more than 2 decades. Whilst
I was in
India,I
went to my favourite 'Piccadilly Book Stall' in New Delhi, hoping to find
useful books on Vedic astrology. With the advent of the Internet, my studies
in Jyotish
escalated
during my Jupiter Bhukti in Jan 2000, and
later in the year, I was taken on a student by
Gauranga Das.
I am
still mining gemstones in Eastern Province, Zambia and confidently install
yantras together with
Bhima .
Astral gems are carefully chosen , their
natural state not tampered with heat treatments etc. The super
fine materials are faceted locally to world
standards and together with locally hand crafted jewellery are on sale at our
local retail outlet.
Swee
Teacher, SJC (2003)
Jyotish Ratan (2002)
Teacher, Mahabote (Burmese Astrology- 2001);
Fees for Course Work
Jyotish Kovid (2001)
Jyotish Saraswati (2000, 2002)
