Following a series of unforeseen circumstances, Seema was forced to cancel her usual Sunday brunch and window shopping trip to Phoenix Mills.
The hall was a vibrant canvas of a million colours. Authentic traditional Rajasthani artefacts and handicrafts adorned with hundreds of tiny mirrors made a beautiful collage and was a welcome to sight for Seema after a tiring drab day. Her exhaustion and hunger took a backseat and she leaped forward at the nearest stall to begin her exploration. As she came to understand the exhibition was to wind up in the next couple of hours. Visiting an exhibition in its last few hours has its own pros and cons. Most of the vendors are out of their best stock, and a lot of them are in a hurry to wind up. However, many a time you will find this last minute visit as an amazing opportunity to bargain, as most vendors are anxious to get rid of their stock, and they are not as sticky about their otherwise exorbitant prices as you will find them on other occasions!
Seema scanned the hall quickly in order to decide which stalls she wanted to visit. Having made a note of a few, she ventured forth on her unplanned shopping expedition. The first stall that she went to, had sarees and other apparel for women. Seema was an expert shopper, and time was of the essence right now. She quickly had 3 sarees pulled down for a closer look. She compared and contrasted and decided to purchase one. The vendor tried to entice her to purchase another one as well. She refused but he persisted. He offered a good bargain and persuaded her to take along the other saree for a discount. Now that is an offer a shopaholic can never refuse! Seema haggled with him a little more and eventually bought both the sarees for the price of one. Hail bargaining! She then came across an interesting vendor who looked like he was in a trance. He kept quoting different prices for the same commodity to every other person who approached him. Seema observed him for a good five minutes before she finally lay her hand on a chiffon stole. He told her it would cost Rs. 250. To the other 3 people who enquired about the same stole - much to Seema's chagrin - he quoted Rs. 300, Rs. 500 and Rs. 600 in quick succession. Before he could change his quotation to Seema, and in order to avoid quibbling with him she quickly settled the deal and went ahead, rather amused.
The next stall had what Seema loved - bags! She was excited at the variety that was still available at that stall. Pointing out to a bright red sling bag, Seema asked the man behind the counter to show it to her. He was preoccupied and did not respond. When she again asked him to show her the bag, he put down the receipt book he was fiddling with and gave her a harried look only to say, " Listen Madam, please help yourself! I am very busy and don't have time for all these things. Take down whatever you want to see on your own!". Here was one strange merchant. In the entire shopping process he only obliged her by disclosing the prices of his goods. Having had helped herself - quite literally - she calculated the amount due and thrust the money onto the vendor's palm who was still not interested, and murmured that this was the last hour of the exhibition.
With just an hour at her disposal, Seema had to act fast. Really fast. There were so many other things to see and buy - earrings, bangles, beads, clothes, bed covers, footwear, puppets and pottery! She felt she was on the verge of losing something valuable. After all, this was the only way to make up for her wasted Sunday. Moving like a ninja on a mission, Seema raced past the stalls, her eyes scanning the items on display. She bargained with the vendors, argued with them and pushed aside other shoppers who eyed the things she'd chosen to buy.
By the end of three quarters of the hour that followed, Seema was a rejuvenated woman with a dozen shopping bags dangling around her carelessly. Satisfied with her unexpected shopping, she left the exhibition hall. Just then she got a call from the service centre informing her that it was time for them to deliver her car. She instructed them to get the car to the exhibition hall, and squatted down on the lawn in front with a benign smile. The day had been set right - yet again - by her favourite stress buster.
Shopping is such a bliss!
~
In order to meet a deadline for her latest assignment at work, she had been burning the midnight oil for the past fortnight. The report had been duly prepared and dispatched on time. However, due to an accidental omission of a few essential facts she was compelled to sacrifice her precious Sunday afternoon in the lone desolate cubicle in her office. Having finished all her work finally, Seema realised that she was famished. She had been working for hours at an end and saw that it was 3:30 in the afternoon. In order to grab some lunch she packed up and left the office premises.
It was a typical humid Mumbai afternoon. The sun was at its peak. Seema looked around for an auto rickshaw but there was none in sight. Left with no option she began to walk. There was a good fast food joint a little ahead, however, she did not have the strength to walk up all the way. So she decided to stay under the shade of a hovering tree and wait for an auto rickshaw to come by. Ten minutes passed. Not a single rickshaw came that way. It was the wrong day to have sent her car for its maintenance and servicing. In despair, Seema began to walk ahead.
Her high heels made it difficult for her to walk. She was cursing the auto drivers, the weather, the government, the state policy and the uneven roads. As she dragged herself to the other side of the lane a sign board caught her attention. It read “Rajasthan State Emporium's Handicrafts Exhibition". As if involuntarily, Seema began to walk towards the exhibition hall.
The hall was a vibrant canvas of a million colours. Authentic traditional Rajasthani artefacts and handicrafts adorned with hundreds of tiny mirrors made a beautiful collage and was a welcome to sight for Seema after a tiring drab day. Her exhaustion and hunger took a backseat and she leaped forward at the nearest stall to begin her exploration. As she came to understand the exhibition was to wind up in the next couple of hours. Visiting an exhibition in its last few hours has its own pros and cons. Most of the vendors are out of their best stock, and a lot of them are in a hurry to wind up. However, many a time you will find this last minute visit as an amazing opportunity to bargain, as most vendors are anxious to get rid of their stock, and they are not as sticky about their otherwise exorbitant prices as you will find them on other occasions!The next stall had what Seema loved - bags! She was excited at the variety that was still available at that stall. Pointing out to a bright red sling bag, Seema asked the man behind the counter to show it to her. He was preoccupied and did not respond. When she again asked him to show her the bag, he put down the receipt book he was fiddling with and gave her a harried look only to say, " Listen Madam, please help yourself! I am very busy and don't have time for all these things. Take down whatever you want to see on your own!". Here was one strange merchant. In the entire shopping process he only obliged her by disclosing the prices of his goods. Having had helped herself - quite literally - she calculated the amount due and thrust the money onto the vendor's palm who was still not interested, and murmured that this was the last hour of the exhibition.
With just an hour at her disposal, Seema had to act fast. Really fast. There were so many other things to see and buy - earrings, bangles, beads, clothes, bed covers, footwear, puppets and pottery! She felt she was on the verge of losing something valuable. After all, this was the only way to make up for her wasted Sunday. Moving like a ninja on a mission, Seema raced past the stalls, her eyes scanning the items on display. She bargained with the vendors, argued with them and pushed aside other shoppers who eyed the things she'd chosen to buy.By the end of three quarters of the hour that followed, Seema was a rejuvenated woman with a dozen shopping bags dangling around her carelessly. Satisfied with her unexpected shopping, she left the exhibition hall. Just then she got a call from the service centre informing her that it was time for them to deliver her car. She instructed them to get the car to the exhibition hall, and squatted down on the lawn in front with a benign smile. The day had been set right - yet again - by her favourite stress buster.
Shopping is such a bliss!
~
