Plushy Pondy Bazaar

Yet another bright day with a cool breeze and sky scattered with cumulus clouds in the lower strata. The Sun was out, but neither too hot nor cool enough to wear a jacket. It is pleasant day so far. I was getting ready to step out of the house this morning and mom asked me to get curtains for the porch and place mats for the table. The curtains had big holes and our neighbors could have a peep show into our living room from their windows. She had been asking me to get them for a while now, but I sensed the urgency in her voice this time. We were having guests over for the weekend and it was absolutely necessary to replace the worn out ones. I was starring at the new billboard that said “Sunday na rendaa” (is it twice on Sunday?) there was a young couple in the ad and there was no other message or logo on the billboard. Well I was wondering what the hell that could be, so were the Chennaiites. 18 months ago there was another ad which kept the lunch tables and water coolers busy. Even kids were discussing these ads in schools, well later we realized it was Aids awareness campaign by a NGO. Why don’t you also squeeze your brains on Sunday na rendaa?

Well I had run some motherly errands and execute some sonly responsibilities. I decided to make a trip to Pondy Bazzar during the lunch break. Pondy Bazaar is the shopping mecca in Chennai and infact it is Walmart spread over the 2 kms on the sidewalk, a one stop shop for the familiy. We don’t have aisles, it is all spread on the sidewalk and you can haggle too. You get everything from safety pin to garlands to Silk sarees in Pondy bazaar. If you are planning to get married you can shop an hour before your marriage and get dressed in the dressing room and pick up a garland on the way out and reach the wedding hall. Sri Krishna Sweets (Like Cheese Cake Factory) have their outlet Pondy Bazaar and you could take your friends there for a quick gastronomical experience to share your happiness.

It starts near Kasi Arcade and goes al the way till Panagal park. The school season was over and the water bottles, fancy book bags and lunch bags were not sought after anymore. Designs and colors keep changing very year and vendors hawk the passerby throwing fancy deals. Vendors were busy with the forthcoming festival (Krishna B’day, Ganesha B’day and Navarathri – doll festival). The traffic was not all that bad during the afternoon. Most of the shoppers on the sidewalks were ofcourse women sending their husbands and kids out, haggling with the vendors over a rupee or two. Well there are some women shoppers who will have to definitely haggle to experience the complete shopping experience, and I found a lot of them today. If you need to really master the art of shopping and haggling you must come down to Chennai and shop here with the women. I stopped in the ATM across Rathna stores to get some money, the queue was long but it was moving fast. Since when did Chennaiites start queuing in an orderly fashion?

Within a week from launching of any new product may it be cell phone or camera, you will find duplicates here. They sell covers and laminates for everything that you can imagine from condoms to car covers. It is yet another China Bazaar. Remember the one in New York? On the way to I stopped by Geetha Café (the oldest coffee shop of yesteryears) to sip the hot cup of coffee with a extra dash of chicory. If you thought Starbucks rules, well you must come down to have a cup of coffee here while you haggle with the vendors. This is a complete shopping experience, Interesting isn’t it?

Within 10 minutes I got done with the shopping and decided to step into Sri Krishna sweets to surprise mom with some pre Krishna Jayanthi (Krishna’s B’day fals on August 27) snacks. I came back to work and I gave mom a call to let her know that I had finished her errands and told her about the snacks. Well I sense my mom's impatience for the curtains and place mats, I will catch you later, may be tomorrow. We have yet another area in T-Nagar to be explored, yes the famous all time Ranganathan street. I will keep that for the weekend.