SHOPAHOLIC

Well this topic had been fired up by one of my very ol’ school friend. I thought I'd share this odd issue with all u guys here too…

My would-be wife, with all probability will break all my unbroken bones after reading this. But - I take up the hazard.

Over the last 3 months - she had been frantically trying to change everything from my hairstyle to the stripes of my shirt. She has a good sense of fashion, which I know, I lack very badly. Durga Puja is just few nights away and the much-awaited shopping-spree of the Bengali household had started with much fanfare and is adding lakhs/crores to the already over-swelling bank balances of the so-called “Fashion Outlets”. A kind of Shopping Mania grips the entire state with a strange frenzy during this period. Men, women with children in tow - horde malls and shops like there is no tomorrow. Evidently there are long queues in shops, as if they are distributing attires for free.

I accidentally happened to visit one of the Pantaloon outlets during their recent “SALE”. I guess there were more people in the shop than clothes on display. There were middle-aged middle-class Bengali parents - who suddenly mutated into this Ultra-modern Pro-American people - who were too happy to buy hip-hugging jeans, short tops and mini-skirts for their teenaged daughters. If girls were decking it up with their parents, the teenage-torrent boys weren’t far behind scouting thru’ labels of Lee, Levis, Blackberry, and what not - paying amounts as good as 2K for a pair of jeans. There were little children crying, mom’s shouting, dad’s growling, boyfriends proudly swapping their samurai-like credit cards and girlfriends shrieking with pleasure with each designer clothes she liked. It was complete chaos. Am sure the situation at Kurukshetra was far better than this. Even the Oxygen level was scaringly low and before I thought I will get choked - I rushed out with my fiancée, struggling for fresh air.

Back to the original dilemma ' i.e. my makeover by my fiancée. She with all her responsibility had been spending her lucre like wastewater - to get me good-looking and decent clothes - in which I supposedly look much better than what I look now. Hence I exercise my legs, arms and tenacity with miles and miles of walking thru’ swanking malls for that special shirt/t-shirt/jeans/kurta, which was specially designed to make me look like another Marlon Brando or even a poor cousin of Abhishek Bachchan. Hence, without complaining and pre-meditating pre-marital war - I keep my mouth shut and tag along with her. As she brutally ripped apart huge stacks of clothes in Pantaloons, Shoppers Stop, Westside, Blackberry's, and other Designer Fashion Outlets till date I only knew about ' she scooped out that "Perfect" shade, colour, stripe/check, material - 8 out of 10 times. Everyday in shopping, I visit the Trial rooms as many times as I visited the toilet in a month. Seriously, I never knew Shopping could invoke such enthusiasm, power and energy in Us. I now say ' Us ' because, yearningly or not am a part of the crowd too, part of a school of people who would spend any amount of dough for desire - in the real sense of the word - a true SHOPAHOLIC.

All said and done ' am relishing this new phase in my life. Its fresh, its new, its so different from being drab. And, seriously am loving her zeal, effort and concentration on me ' everytime we shop.

Wishing you all a great shopping season ahead. Take care of your samurai-like credit card and never forget to have fun while you shop.