Shopping is a therapy – whatever be the state of mind! When
happy, it increases the happiness quotient and when depressed – it takes away
some amount of gloom even though, temporarily!
Back home in India, I never had
much opportunity to shop or window-shop in Great India Place in Noida or Shipra
Mall in Ghaziabad or in Gurgaon, primarily because packing the kids in a Maruti
800 and driving across NCR region to malls was not at all safe for three of us
given the awe-inspiring record of my driving skills and the hectic travel
schedule of my poor husband seldom allowed us ‘we-four’ time. I was possibly
the first one to gate-crash when the Ansal Plaza opened its doors for the less
fortunate souls like me in Greater Noida and going there for a McD filet-o-fish
and some fries on every Sunday was almost like a ritual for myself and my
children!
….then I got transported to
Dubai, the City of Malls and was awe-struck, figuratively and literally with
their glamour, glory, glitter and glitz. As I wanted a break from my crazy
schedule of managing home, kids, office, homework, school-run, a touring
husband – for first few months in Dubai I was in a “tourist” mode and
crisscrossed the city almost each day to some or the other mall to explore
every square inch of the area. I became a veritable “yellow pages” as regards
brands, shops, sale deals and offers available in the city!!
The initial excitement subsided
and I got myself enrolled for a Master’s Degree in one of the Universities
here. Once the studies were over, I somehow managed myself a 9 to 6 job;
weekdays were hectic and weekends were reserved for lazing around and some
‘family time’. I was soon ordering grocery from “Trolley.ae” (an online grocery
shopping website)! Just as I was exploring more about other on-line grocery
shops for better deals, life threw a nasty twist at me …….. and I was again
searching for ideas to keep myself engaged and entertained during the days I would be floating
and during the days, I would be sinking too!!
On one such nights when the
steroids were keeping me awake all night, a thought crossed my mind like a
flash of light and in the next minute, I was sitting upright with my laptop
open in front of me and I typed in Google search bar “On line Saree hopping
from India”. Few sites popped up and after a thorough research, I started
clicking on images of designer sarees from Mirraw.com. They deliver all over
the world, and got few mails from satisfied customer to prove their claim for
authenticity and genuineness!!
I am a thorough-bred Bengali and
saree is one of my weaknesses – I love to buy them, I love to wear them and I
love to store them neatly in numerous suitcases that I have at home (thanks to
my husband’s travel requirements). By the time it was 4 am in the morning, I
painstakingly checked images of 200 sarees on offer and chose few in my “wish
list” – driving away the “sleeplessness and chemotherapy nausea”. Each time a
saree caught my fancy, I divided the price in Indian rupees by 14.38 and
reverse conversion from Indian Rupees to Dirhams was such a pleasant experience,
now that I am a completely Dirham-adapted NRI! …and now the real dilemma….
…….is there any justification
that I would suddenly splurge on such on-line shopping? Is there any occasion
close by that I need to wear new saree? And something crossed my mind again in
a flash – the indulging smile on my husband’s face before he left on a long
tour,” Stay well and happy. Do whatever makes you happy”. During that moment, I
was on an all- time-high on Happiness Parameter and all dilemmas vanished. I
filled in my shopping cart with three sarees and two necklaces from the
‘costume jewellery’ section, typed in the credit card number and hit the button
“Pay” with full force.
The day FedEx delivered a neatly
sealed packet on door step, I broke into an instant “Zumba Zig” while my daughter
watched me nervously and ran to her dad possibly to check if chemotherapy makes
people behave ‘in a different way’ also! For the first time, my husband
appreciated my choice and with that same indulging smile, said softly,” oh,
beautiful! Why didn’t you order few more?”
I flashed an evil smile while
arranging my ‘shopping haul’ in my wardrobe and said, “I have 4 more chemo
sessions to go through, Mr. Ray! Just make sure there is enough balance in
those ‘add-on’ credit cards” and exited the room.
If I have said that I love
sarees, then I am an ‘average-Indian woman’ and I love gold too! Was it a
coincidence that the very auspicious ‘gold-buying’ day of Akshay Tritiya was
around the corner and I never missed the date to buy some gold and invite
prosperity! I considered it almost a conspiracy when I found the catalogues of
Damas and Joyalukkas in the mailbox just on the day my husband returned from
tour! I waited patiently for the right time and over an ‘awesome breakfast’ of
Puri-aloo sabzi, the next morning, I spread out the designs in front of him.
“But it’s not safe for you to go
to a crowded place, my dear. I will take some time out from office and buy
something for you”.
“Nooooo”, I croaked and almost tripped
over the next chair and rush to hug him tightly. “We can always buy the gold
before the real date. Damas will not be so crowded before Akshay Tritiya”, I
cried out!
Wouldn’t it be a life-time loss
if I did not get to see each design on display, hold them in my hand, check
them for weight, strolling from counter to counter aimlessly and finally
choosing whatever my husband suggested? A loving husband that he is, we were
out on jewellery shopping the next day and came home with a big, flashy paper
bag, very happy and satisfied with the real shopping complimenting my online
shopping.
The joy and happiness of buying
something is lost to a great extent if it is not approved by dear friends. During
a community celebration a few days later, I wore a saree from my ‘online
shopping’ collection while waiting eagerly for comments from my friends. When
friends unanimously approved of my choice and my online shopping skills, I was
ready for another night-long shopping spree anytime soon but sadly enough, the
gold necklace could not be worn as the scarf covered part of my neck ( scarfs
adore my bald head now that chemo therapy has claimed my crowning glory!)
The excitement of wearing a scarf and feeling like an Arab
woman immediately died down when the joy of buying a beautiful ‘temple
necklace’ from Damas could not be shared with my lovely friends! It was now
time for shopping for a real-looking and fashionable wig. The lovely long
tresses of mine was too much of a part of my identity and I could not bear the
pain of seeing myself ‘bald and ugly’ in front of the mirror whatever the
mirror might say!
…..thanks to a very dear friend, we took real long in terms of time and effort and a very chic, almost
real-looking wig now has found a permanent place on my head and I got to flaunt
a hairstyle with front fringes to everyone’s surprise!! I feel myself complete
and beautiful and would be waiting for an opportunity to wear another saree
from my collection, the temple necklace and the stylish wig!!
My wish-list in Mirraw.com is full and almost as a routine,
I check the website for new arrivals just to keep me on top of it. On-line
shopping has never been so much of fun and with some real shopping to
compliment that, life is treating me pretty well, I must say……
Accept life as it comes and look beautiful, stay beautiful
and feel beautiful, all my lovely friends!!
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