Since time immemorial, India has been associated with magnificence and extravagance. Growing up in India, one invariably got to hear stories from epics such as Mahabharata and Ramayana. Stories in which fabulous palaces with lavish decorations were vividly described, stories where people dressed in silk garments and were jewelled from head to toe, and stories where children played with glass marbles, only in this case the marbles were made of rubies, pearls, and emeralds ... Stories of India of the bygone era.