Deepavalli shopping

Deepavalli - 'The Festival of Lights' falls on Oct 17th this year and is an important festival in the Hindu calender. It's time for new clothes, lots of food (particularly Indian Sweets), firecrackers and kite flying (which had a wide following when I was growing up).

The shopping choices for women is much more than for men . You have stores for sarees, Salwar Kameez, 22 carat Gold jewellery, all kinds of accessories, flowers to be worn in the hair etc.

Over time ready made garments have become the staple for men's wear, though a number of tailors are still doing good business in Chennai. We were lucky to find Bee Aay Tailors, catering to men who like custom fitted clothes. This went a long way in calming my withdrawal from shopping at The Filene's Basement. Have included some pictures when Ashwin had some trousers tailored here in December 2008.

During Deepavalli the fruit shops double as fire cracker stores and you get a wide selection from sparklers to Rockets.Over time bargaining has taken a back seat and many people prefer the supermarket type atmosphere where you can't bargain. To some, this takes away the thrill of shopping. After being in Boston I lost most of my bargaining skills. Maybe that is why I am made to feel like a celebrity in Tana street ; where I do some occasional shopping

However, for the real shopping experience you have to visit T Nagar in Chennai. You have to fight for everything; to park, get in the store, get the attention of the store helpers, eat food etc. Thanks to some new construction and traffic rules there is going to be even more chaos this year.

This year I will be setting off some fire crackers so that Priya and Ashwin could experience it via the webcam

Happy Deepavalli.

Prabhu