Shopping. Not one of my fortes. I was never the kind that'll just pick up her wallet and go shop for all its worth.I was never the kind that'll get over 'the guilt' after shopping that easily. I was never the kind that'll bargain through her teeth and feel the victory of saving 200 whole rupees, but that's more because i never could!
And, as a result, I have ended up having some pretty embarassing shoe dilemmas.
But today i finally conquered that side of me.
The day was an action-packed Sunday, with a movie and then a train ride to CST with Sanjana, telling her the story of the movie, and then a cab ride to Colaba Causeway.
As we entered the colourful, lively street lined with everything under the sun, I remembered, and almost got, the familiar feeling I usually get standing at Cafe MondeGar; the one of a painful walk, with too many things and too light a pocket, with maybe a bite at Mad Over Doughnuts to soothe it out; definitely a drool conversation with whoever was with me as we passed the Cafe Leopold (who have a knack of keeping the most sinful pastries they make in the display); the spotting of something great and ending up bargaining too badly for it and not buying it anyway; the guilt in the cab ride back from the Causeway....
But today, I was determined. And I had saved up enough to shop till I drop this time! Plus, I really needed to learn to bargain....
Sanjana helped a lot, of course. She's an expert in bargaining. She has the can-make-the-cute-puppy-dog-face-so-the-shopkeepers-will-sell-me-anything-and-everything-for-half-the-price and the can-fight-the-hell-out-of-him-if-he-doesn't spirit. Shopping, totally her forte.
So today was better than any day i went shopping in a mall. It was fun. I did learn to bargain. And I did get some amazing tops, a cute pair of shorts, a pretty froggy flip-flop, and a huge pair of glares. And yes, I did have a lot of shopping bags at the end. And i did save a lot of monies *wink*
I finally know 'the feeling' shopaholics talk about; the satisfaction of having bargained well. The knack of not thinking how much lighter the pocket feels and of thinking how amazing lots of shopping bags feel. The appreciation of all the colours and all the liveliness, the victory of having bargained like a maniac, the pride of showing it all off to my family...
I can finally use the expression, 'oh, that feeling'....
