Shop Talk

A friend asked me for a post on shopping in Chennai.
Everyone who knows me, is laughing out loud, reading this first line,Archana! 

A. I am a lousy shopper. I can't spend more than 15 minutes in one store. Be it clothes/diamonds/furniture!! I hate trial rooms. Claustrophobic. 

B. I love shopping for groceries. Grocery shopping is therapeutic. I get thrilled tobits getting tomato paste in a tube! 

C. My wardrobe has 2 dominant colors- black and white. And some pastel shades here and there. Yeah, I believe that the most beautiful animal in this planet is the Zebra. 

D. I can't wear heels. CAN'T. And when people suggest I try, I dabaaichufy and tell them am taller than most Indian men, just barefoot. I once fell down trying to maneuver a pair of teeny tiny heeled sandals, right in the middle of an Edinburgh restaurant. When the waiters came running from every direction, I had to shift the blame on their smooth floor. They also asked me if I intended suing the restaurant and their floor J

E. I am scared of polka dots, for some reason. Sometimes, am reminded of Sungudi sarees when I see polka dots. And it brings memories of old sraardha samayal maamis from the 80’s.

F. I have outgrown shopping in Chennai 600017. Very very rarely, can I do it.And I need an antidote afterwards. 

G. I suffer a major setback in self esteem when I am ambushed by a snobbish,impeccably dressed store assistant in a swanky place. 

H. I completed my entire wedding shopping within 2-3 hours max. Remember the Tambrahm wedding requires some 7-8 sarees. I took more than minutes because mum rejected black/white for the wedding. Stupid stores don't ever stock up on black/white silk sarees either. And she rejected a lot more for other reasons. 

I. My wardrobe is utilitarian. Stocked with kurtas, tunics, pajamas and cotton trousers more than anything else.  Hari hates to drive and we end up taking the auto. Every Chennai woman knows what to wear in an auto. And what not to. And most of my kurtas have collars- I am tired of random people seeing my bare neck and asking me about my mangalsutra. The lack thereof. 

J. I travel a lot. At least, I used to. But hardly shop abroad. Unlike most other friends of mine who earn in other currency or work onsite, we still earn in Rupees and the exchange rate leaves me mortified. But more importantly travelling with Hari means I carry no check-in baggage. Yes, he hates the extra waiting time. While there are times when I have smuggled shampoo bottles in cabin baggage, I have also lost Body Shop bath gel bottles to the airport dustbins.

K. Am married to someone whose grooming/sartorial sense is worse than mine. Sample this:
Me: I am getting oversized sunglasses.

Him:You aren’t going to gain weight on your eyes/nose. So, why get plus sizes? You should get your own size, unlike with Jeans and shirts.

He’s antisocial but I can convince him to attend weddings with me with the promise of ‘kalyana saappadu’. But enough people have laughed out loud seeing him in shorts and a Tantra T shirt in wedding halls.

He is scared of getting a haircut, says someone holding sharp instruments over his head makes him nervous. And hence, to minimise the ‘danger potential’, gets his head tonsured twice a year. That’s it. Shaves once a month. When I entice him with urulaikizhangu fry and refuse to give it to him until he shaves.
I love the fact that he is not fake- he and most of his pals, never look at clothes, shoes, cars and such. He can dine with propah Brit colleagues and eat with his bare hands!

He refuses to throw out anything- I discard stuff, but then, he never realises it either! :)

L.Don’t look for haute couture in this list. I am way too middle class and I live in Chennai, I drive through seedy parts and you know how people stare at you when you wear as much as a sleevless kurta or Capri trousers. Leave the men; I have seen women look at me contemptuously when I am dressed thus.  I have had instances of students staring at me inappropriately. I have one black dress I haven’t worn in 2 years.

M. I went to a stupid college with a stupider dress code. The management made sure we looked as hideous as possible. But those were the days- getting the unstitched fabric from Nalli/Kumaran/Pantheon Road/Sundari, looking into various out-dated catalogues at the tailors’, unable to settle for a single neck design, piping in contrast colours, churidar gatherings and Patiala salwars. Waiting a month or more to get the sets tailored. Wearing it to college the very next day. Aah, such simple things could make one happy when young. Sounds very distant today- and I don’t have the patience to go to the tailor these days.

Despite all this, I love retail therapy. I have a headache, I shop, I fight with Hari, I shop. I am bored, I shop. I am happy, I shop. Can even be a carton of milk. I shop akin to Chris Gayle getting bored and hitting sixers everyother ball. And then going back to the pavilion when he's bored of that as well.

When I was in school and college, I could not afford shopping. We weren't left with much after spending for education and basic necessities. I was not fashion conscious, I had a unibrow until 21 but did not get my eyebrows done until I was out of college- I could not imagine spending mum's precious little money on something that was not a bare necessity. It irks me today, to see middle class college kids get tattoos for a 4 figure sum.  Or pay thousands to enroll in a course with no intention of actually studying. I see a lot of such kids in my classes.

Anyhow, thanks to this conditioning, I have seen various class shopping segments- from Pantheon Road, Chennai 17 to the swankier and (the affordable) international labels. 

Now, coming to my favourite haunts:

1. Fabindia:
Madras is hot. Ideally, we should all be wearing minimal clothes- short shorts and tank tops. Despite our huge Dravidian posteriors and tiered stomachs. Butthen, you'd only have to leave our room, come to the living room and you'd have to dial for an ambulance- for you'd have a mum/dad/anyone-at-all suffer a heart attack. And you'd have to rush to the wardrobe, change into a kurta and pajamas before you can open the door and let the paramedics tend to the patient.
So, shorts are out of question.
The next best thing is Fabindia. You don't feel like you are wearing anything at all. It is that comfortable. Yes, the colour runs and runs and runs, the kurta lasts 10 washes, it's the same stuff again and again- but we all keep gravitating towards the nearest Fabindia store. Alas, we have no other option.You are geared for Madras' temperatures when you wear this. And thankfully,they make 'decent-by-auntyji-standards' and weird men on the road do not give you weirder looks when you wear them. I have never found fabric that is as good as Fabindia's anywhere. If you happen to know, enlighten me please.
Apart from the fabric, I like the inbuilt pockets- convenient for keys andphones.  And most importantly, the store is almost empty, all the time, unlessyou make the mistake of going to their mall outlets. 

The mall outlets always have a firang or two. Be it Fabindia or Maroma.

2. Kalpastree:
Y U no have an online store!!
The place is beautiful- near Stella Mari's. Again, the place has no crowds, i like their prices better than Fabindia prices and I must say their fabric is almost as good. ALMOST.
It's a one stop shop for all your ethnic needs. When I first heard of theplace, I was very sure I could not afford anything there- the pincode, the uber-elite sounding name and its proximity to Stella. It screamed 'snob'. But I have always been surprised at their prices. You can also look into their tapestry,curios, jewelry and stuff- I don't have a house swanky enough to decorate with their tapestry/curios. So, I give it a miss. 

Also look into Kalpa Kshema nearby- their organic food store. I liked the mangoes I got there last year.

3. Sundari Silks:
The one store in T Nagar that has a proper valet service. And it’s a little less crowded than Nalli/Kumaran. Mum always claims it’s at least 10 per cent more expensive than Nalli/Kumaran.

When I was in college, I got quite a few readymade salwar kameez sets from there. I went to the year-end sale recently and was sad to see that it had nothing much to offer these days.

I have always liked their silk sarees though. Still do! A majority of my wedding sarees are from Sundari.

Apart from the clothes, I like the store layout. With its quaint old-house-like charm.

Today,when I look at Sarangi’s ads on The Hindu, I think ‘Sundari is the Sarangi of TNagar’. Again, I look at Sarangi and am intimidated. By the pincode, the FBpage and the ads. I bet the place has snobbish store attendants who will not look at you unless you arrive there in a chauffeur driven high end vehicle.

Talking of snob places, I once had a very bad experience at Karishma, Nungambakkam- the store did not even look all that swanky and I walked in to the store when I was working nearby some 2 years back. The store had a snob of a woman who treated me like trash and I vowed to never enter the place again.

4.Cottonworld Corp:

I love Khader Nawaz Khan. Among Madras’ roads, it’s a favourite, next only to the area around Theosophical Society, Besant Nagar.

While most of Khader Nawaz Khan’s stores do not cater to the non-celery-eating public,Cottonworld Corp is heaven. Head to this place, above Auroville’s store, for comfortable western clothes. Very unassuming- cotton trousers, blouses, tunics, tops, shirts for women who eat. When I was younger and could fit into a size S comfortably, I went  to other places. And then shifted to Cottonworld Corp, as the inches increased.

On an unrelated note, I am reminded of Sujatha’s joke-
Women should stop dancing when they reach 40- Age and waist size!

5.Marks & Spencer:

The world’s most boring store, as a student of mine once remarked. When you realise that you aren’t young anymore, you automatically head to this place.

I am there. Are you?

6.Naidu Hall:

We all got our first ‘delicates’ from Naidu Hall. Barring a very short visit a couple of years back, accompanying someone else, I haven’t been to this place for a really long time. When we were kids,we always got our frocks here. Today, it is a mess.

7.Pantheon Road:

The road looks like a paintball match is perennially in progress there. You have street vendors sitting with their bales and bales of pure cotton fabric. They sell it by the metre and if you have any bargaining skills, you should head to this busy little street tucked beyond Thillayadi Valliammai complex in Egmore. If I have to choose a cheaper alternative to Fabindia, this is it. You can pick up fabric for around 60 bucks a metre and that translates to a salwar kameez set within 400 bucks. The catch is, it is far away. And you need a tailor. You have to take the bus/auto, for there is no parking space easily available. I wish they sold fabric online!! Again, it’s been ages since I have been here. I think I last went to this lovely street, often called ‘Cheap Street’ for obvious reasons, in 2009.

8.Nalli/Kumaran/Raasi:

We all transition from these places to the pricier options. Nevertheless, we all started there. Like old timers, I still prefer the old Nalli store, opposite Panagal Park to the new Nalli 100 building. All our mums still claim that Kumaran sells at a lesser price than Nalli does. I have my doubts there! The modern bride, despite all that trousseau shopping in Sarangi and Tulsi, still goes to Nalli/Kumaran/Raasi for the muhurtha pattu pudavai. While Nalli/Kumaran are preferred by people on this side of the Mount Road, the Mylapore maami adorned in her diamonds and draped in her Mangalgiri cotton saree will never stray from Raasi.