To spur the mollusc to form a pearl, an irritant is artificially introduced into the creature. However, it is a delicate process and the mussels or oysters must be carefully handled, as Mr Garwa found.

“My first attempt was a disaster,” he admits. Of the 500 mussels he purchased, only 35 survived.

Mr Garwa had travelled to Kerala to buy the mussels – a journey of 1,700 miles involving a 36-hour train journey. He also used his savings and borrowed money to come up with the 16,000 rupees (£170; $200) needed to buy the molluscs.

In addition, Mr Garwa had dug a 10ft by 10ft pond in his back garden to keep the creatures in.

Despite the setback, he did not give up. Instead, he took a five-day course in pearl farming.

“Growing an oyster is like bringing up a baby,” he says.

“Monitoring the the water throughout the growth period is crucial to achieving high quality and volume of produce.”

Now he has a 40ft by 50ft pond, which he treats with multivitamins and alum which maintains the correct pH level required for growth.