There could be hardly anyone who is not mesmerized by the Tamil song 'Kangal Irandal' from the movie 'Subramaniya Puram'. My friend J said the movie is rocking in Kerela these days. We decided to catch up the movie 'Naadodigal' (Means "Nomad"), starring Sasikumar, who was the director of 'Subramaniya puram'. What an environment! Have never seen such a crowd in Mumbai enjoying the movie to the fullest - It's a different experience to watch it with a crowd that whistles, shouts, claps and creaks for a significant portion of the movie. Beautiful interweaving of comedy, friendship and love - the necessary ingredients of Tamil cinema - but doesn't feel unnatural like the usual masala movies. The movie made me think for a while.. about the friendship as portrayed in the movie. I am sure it would definitely bring back the memories of some good old friends to anyone. It's is a must-watch for its wonderful first half.. second half is overly emotional and doesn't hurt one giving it a miss!
Oh, ok.. Let me come to title of the post. Mom told me over phone "Need to buy sarees for your sisters da. I am bored of the sarees in Tamil Nadu (Truth is that she would exhausted all the categories in TN!) Why can't you get some designer sarees from Bombay? They look very beautiful with Priyanka and Aishwarya." I felt "you didn't get anyone else to get sarees huh?" But decided to get it as my mom rarely asks me to do anything. Of course, I needed guidance - I asked her "which colour? what type? Give me all spec" Her reply, "Can't decide based on colour da. You look and decide. It should be designer saree. Different from what you are seeing in TN". I soon realized that either she won't give me the exact spec or her way of giving it won't help me choose. I said "Ok, ok. I will get 2". I thought for a moment whether I should take any of my female colleagues / friends to help me pick the saree. Decided against it as I would end up spending more time in shopping than doing it myself.
We were done with the movie and walking back home. It was a reasonably big shop in Matunga in Mumbai - with its two floors and glass windows, one can clearly see the flashy display of dozen sarees - For a moment, I had a doubt - was it really a saree shop or could it be a curtains shop? I double checked - Yes, it was a saree shop. The word "sarees" was mentioned in the board and I saw the dolls inside the shop wearing sarees. I entered the shop. The sales men were a bit surprised. With a doubtful look, one of them asked "Yes Sir" (To me, he sounded like "No, we don't need any management consulting. We are better today without them!"). I told myself "Act like a customer, man!" - I replied "Yes, I am looking for 'designer' sarees". The term "designer" was the highest technical term I know of in sarees. With his next question, he bumped me off really - "What material sir? zsdfsdfs.. or asdfsdfds.. or asdd.." All sounded Greek and Latin to me. Didn't want to show him my ignorance. Replied "Well, good to know that you have all these categories! I am pretty flexible - Show me all of them. I will decide."
My reply made the shop keeper a bit doubtful. He continued, "What is your budget?" Again, I didn't want to sound silly by telling arbitrary numbers. Told him, "I am flexible with budget as well. If I like something, I will pick." My broken hindi with a liberal mix of English words should have revealed my identity to the next sales man. He asked "Sir, Tamil ah neega?" (Are you a Tamil?) I asked "Will the reply get me additional discount?" Nitin (the boy's name) replied "No sir but I can help you select". Thus began our saree selection process.
Within a minute, the first saree was chosen. It matched all the criteria - (a) Yes, it has lots of "designs" - "designer" saree criteria matched (b) Have never noticed that kind of sarees in Tamil Nadu - "it should be different" criteria matched (c) For a couple of seconds, I imagined whether it would look good with my sis - "Yes" was the intuition. Deal was done. Nitin was pleasantly surprised - he didn't have to put any effort to sell the saree to me. I told Nitin, "I really like this saree. If you manage to get me any other one as good as this, I will pick that as well"
Nitin tried showing a couple of other sarees. I soon realized it won't help. I told him - "Wait, I will have a look at them from the shelf itself." A quick glance - Nothing matched the first saree. I said, "let's pack". He said, "Sir, I will take you to another shop of ours."
The other shop. Packed with ladies. (Before a new sales man was allotted to me, I overhead the chaotic discussions and innumerable requests of ladies like open this, fold this, show it up, show it down, show under white light, show under yellow light, show without lights, show with that border, show with this combination, that design, more sober etc. Man, women are really artistic and selective.) Again, I picked up a new saree in a couple of minutes. This time I wanted to act a little more artistic - I asked him "Can you open it up and show" - He opened and showed. With a surprise, I asked "What is this? You try to cheat huh? Half of the saree doesn't have any designs. It's plain simple inside!" He, with a bit of giggle and an inch of smug, said "no sir, this comes inside like how it was inside when folded". I tried to make up saying "yeah, I know that. But this one seems to have less designs than its peers". He was like "No sir, nothing like that. Do you want to measure it?" I promptly replied, "I trust you, man. Please pack both the sarees!"
The sales owner was stuck in awe. He had a reasonably good sales with least effort - neither his shop's space was occupied nor his sales men were pained. I thought I should add atleast some value - I told the shop keeper, "Dude, do you know how much of your operational expenses been saved due to this sales? You should give me some better discount." Owner with his wide smile said, "Sir, we already have the best price. Have given you 20% discount already. Can't reduce further" - I continued, "Hmm.. You should encourage valuable customers like me. If you give me better price, there is a good chance that I would come again." With a wide grin, he said, "Sure, sir.Please. Definitely come again" Sarees were packed and I was about to move out - the fellow customers in the shop still couldn't believe someone picking up 2 sarees in no matter of time. The owner handed over a voucher worth 1000 bucks. I knew he won't do it but I still asked, "Can I redeem it against the current bill." To which, he promptly replied, "No sir, this is for your next purchase" I smiled and said "Thanks!" I was telling myself, "Will I come again or not. It all depends on how well the saree is being received!" ;)
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