LIVE from Mumbai VI

28th February
Nariman point
Mumbai

WARNING: the following post is purely a feminine one, about things that interest only women. If you’re a guy and are still reading this post, do it at your own risk. At the end of it don’t roll your eyes and say, “Women!”

So yesterday was our first Sunday in Mumbai. We’d been waiting for this day even before we came to this city. And it has nothing to do with the fact that this Sunday would mark our one week anniversary here or that we’d get a break from slogging at work. It has everything to do with what girls love most in this world. (Not every girl loves it, but most of them do) It’s a simple word. It’s a simple process. But it gives us immense pleasure and indescribable joy. Its our relief from pain, its our escape from stress, our remedy of a heart break, our medicine from sickness, our solution to every problem, our best friend, our lover, our life: SHOPPING.

Ok. So I sound like a total drama queen and you think I’m fit to star in those silly chick flicks like Legally Blonde and Sex and the City. But even though those of you out there who don’t enjoy shopping like me and my friends do, shopping in Mumbai is a different experience all together. And not those big store Prada-Gucci-Christian Dior shopping, mind you. It’s street shopping. And those of you, who come from smaller cities like me, will understand how much fun this experience can be. And how amazing it is when you don’t have to hunt for the things you want, but in fact have a wide variety to choose from.

So we were just two of us in Mumbai this weekend, and since we’d been waiting to go out shopping since forever, our friends not being home didn’t stop us from venturing out on our own.

We headed for Causeway in Colaba, since I’d had a glimpse of it last Monday when I’d gone to Mondy’s with a friend. Plus I’d heard great things about the place.

So from about 1 in the afternoon till about 6 in the evening, we rambled the streets of Causeway in the hot sun and crowded lanes, ignoring the loud noises, the sweaty people and our growling tummies (only for while though). The place, for us, is what Disney Land is for kids. There were clothes of every colour, shape, size, make, design, fabric, length, occasion, time of the day, part of your body (and I could go on).

Not to mention gorgeous footwear at an exceptional price. My friend and I went absolutely crazy! We tried to keep a control on each other and kept telling each other that it’s the first day of shopping, we’ll be back soon. So we don’t need to buy everything right then and no need to spend every rupee we had in our pockets. And even though we knew that, we still couldn’t help seeing all the things and going gaga over it all.

But I have to say, I’m proud of us. We didn’t buy unnecessary things (not entirely unnecessary things) neither did we spend all of our money. We bargained with all our might and self respect and bought good things for ourselves and our respective sisters. (It’s so easy to shop for girls. You know what’ll make them happy. Unlike shopping for guys, which is next to impossible)

So, without spending too much time on this post, I’d like give a few tips for those who decide to go shopping at Causeway:

• It’s a good idea to buy clothes and footwear here
• Jewelry is unnecessarily expensive ( will look for a cheaper alternative)
• Just because the seller tells you that his clothes are Remanika discards, and hence are expensive, don’t fall for it. Quote your price. If he’s sensible he’ll sell it to you. Both of you know that if you wanted to shop at Remanika prices, you would go to Remanika
• Just like all that glitters is not gold, all that is priced less is not of the greatest quality. You might find stalls that sell clothes/footwear at unbelievably low prices, but check twice before you buy it. There is a reason its being sold at a cheaper price

Another fun thing we did yesterday while we were out shopping was we went to see the Taj Palace, the Gateway of India and the marina. We acted like complete tourists, took pictures of the boats, the Gateway and the Taj and of ourselves with all these things in the backdrop.

All in all, we had a typical ‘girlie’ day, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Back to work on Monday, yet looking forward to next Sunday too.


PS: i forgot to add one thing. We were on our way back to Churchgate station when it just struck me that I hadn't gone for mass (it was a Sunday) So Churchgate being the most obvious choice, we began hunting for the 'church' at Churchgate. We saw one, with a huge statue of Jesus on one of the towers. We crossed the street and saw the exit to the church. There sat a policeman, surrounded by a wall of sacks (filled with I don't know what) and a long rifle pointing towards the street. We asked him politely, "are we allowed to go inside the church?and where's the entrance to it?" He looked puzzled for a moment, and then with a smile he said, "Madam, yeh toh High Court hai, church nai." (Madam, this is the High Court, not a church)

So much for wanting to be holy for a change.