The Day of Dim Dim
Velachery is an astounding amalgamation of people, culture, mosquitoes and concrete. Ten years ago we prided ourselves with the extraordinary amounts of trees and deer that inhabited the Checkpost area, today we boast about the marble marvel called Phoenix Market City, sipping a cuppa from the Starbucks. One such prominent chrome and glass structures that dominate the Velachery area is the ”Saravana Stores” building (formerly a nameless, forgotten data centre that housed some poor IT folks)
Saravana Stores is your go-to place when you have:
A mid-month bra crisis
Your mother’s shopaholic alibi rears her head up with a vengeance
A dreary day and desperately in need some entertainment
All the above
I chose option 4.
The shop is everything you imagine it to be. From the vendors who milk your money with flashy pink teddy bear balloons to the cheap tasting popcorns.
I walked past the golden fake archway that threatens to fall any time on you, the unsmiling woman with a faded white silk saree, the humongous crowd, the malfunctioning ACs that work surprisingly well only near the doors fascinated by the sheer amount of people.
I dragged my fascinated mum through the crowd and paved my way towards the elevator. After ten futile minutes waiting for the elevator, we huffed and puffed through the stairs to reach the fifth floor. Ah! Our lingerie destination! Now, finding a decent bra in the huge silver trays among fellow female folks is a skill and right up my mother’s alley. She launched herself into the search with frenzy and came out with an array of black, blue, fluorescent, pale pink and God-knows-what colour bras. I chose the black one and resolutely shook my head in negative to the rest. As she went back to rummaging the bra tubs, I turned towards the panties tub, and my world tilted.
I howled with laughter. I howled like a lunatic werewolf on a full moon day. I never knew that women could wear panties of such variety, whether it was to humour the men who get to see it or to arouse them I would never know. There were Mauves, Opalines, Cerulean, Crimsons and Canaries. There were laces, patterns, zig-zags and lions. I caught the eyes of one of the sales girl, and she started giggling along with me, It passed on to the kind looking lady nearby her, the stern looking aunty adjacent to her and together we rummaged the whole tub for thirty long minutes- laughing, smirking and of course, buying. It was a mind-boggling community event.
What am I trying to say by all this? I don’t know. Just take your mum to Saravana Stores