I wrote a post yesterday and just before I could hit the 'Publish' button, the comp had the cheek to conk on me.
Well, the whole of this week I have been making shopping expeditions to TNagar, the city's shopping hub. Three of those visits have been to get a badly done tailoring job rectified. I need to make one more trip to the tailor. God help him if he doesnt get it right this time!
Shopping in TNagar is no fun these days - one has to jostle one's way through the half-million-strong crowd in the shops and on the streets. Why does half of Chennai's population have to be there on a day I decide to shop, I dont understand. Apparently it is the season of weddings; the school vacation is another reason for whole families to throng the shops.
Saravana's provides the worst shopping experience and I zealously avoid it. If you manage to meander your way in, you are greeted by menacing-looking men who grab your hand baggage, seal it in a plastic bag and give it back to you - your expedition round the shop is handicapped by this pile dangling on your forefinger. But they sell really cheap - though one has to be prepared for duplicate stuff (like a St. Ive's Apricot Scrub V once got from there for Rs. 50 as against the original stuff for Rs. 250) and as a result it is the favorite shopping destination of the lesser haves and the stingier haves. And if you do manage to find what you are looking for, the queue at the cash counter is enough to make you dump them back in their respective shelves/cases. You retrieve your hand baggage with the help of the salesmen at the entrance and make a dash for the next shop.
Pothy's is more fun, at least gastronomically. There is an array of refreshments coming your way as you shop - buttermilk, rava kesri, chakkarapongal etc. etc. I suspect people come there mainly to hog than to buy. The prices are slightly high, which is what compensates the refreshments I guess.
But my favorites are Kumaran Silks and Old Nalli, which provide value for money and no gimmicks - no sales, no discounts, no sweets...
Time for my next shopping expedition, see ya.
Well, the whole of this week I have been making shopping expeditions to TNagar, the city's shopping hub. Three of those visits have been to get a badly done tailoring job rectified. I need to make one more trip to the tailor. God help him if he doesnt get it right this time!
Shopping in TNagar is no fun these days - one has to jostle one's way through the half-million-strong crowd in the shops and on the streets. Why does half of Chennai's population have to be there on a day I decide to shop, I dont understand. Apparently it is the season of weddings; the school vacation is another reason for whole families to throng the shops.
Saravana's provides the worst shopping experience and I zealously avoid it. If you manage to meander your way in, you are greeted by menacing-looking men who grab your hand baggage, seal it in a plastic bag and give it back to you - your expedition round the shop is handicapped by this pile dangling on your forefinger. But they sell really cheap - though one has to be prepared for duplicate stuff (like a St. Ive's Apricot Scrub V once got from there for Rs. 50 as against the original stuff for Rs. 250) and as a result it is the favorite shopping destination of the lesser haves and the stingier haves. And if you do manage to find what you are looking for, the queue at the cash counter is enough to make you dump them back in their respective shelves/cases. You retrieve your hand baggage with the help of the salesmen at the entrance and make a dash for the next shop.
Pothy's is more fun, at least gastronomically. There is an array of refreshments coming your way as you shop - buttermilk, rava kesri, chakkarapongal etc. etc. I suspect people come there mainly to hog than to buy. The prices are slightly high, which is what compensates the refreshments I guess.
But my favorites are Kumaran Silks and Old Nalli, which provide value for money and no gimmicks - no sales, no discounts, no sweets...
Time for my next shopping expedition, see ya.
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