converting string to dictionary

[ketulp_baroda]

Hi,
suppose i have dictinary as below :

a={'jack':'monica','mark':'alice','jeff':'jeni'}

i am storing this dictionary into the database where it is converted
to string of the form :
'{'jack':'monica','mark':'alice','jeff':'jeni'}'

now i want to convert this string into dictionary.

how can i do this ?

is there any way to do this ?

thanks,

[News M Claveau /Hamster-P]

one (good or bad ? ) idea : use pickle...