Mr. Vedprakash Vyas, a senior HR manager in Biotech Company, was elated with joy. His happiness knew no bounds as he had bagged a prestigious four week ‘Hands On’ program in the sister concern of the company in the Montreal, Canada. Also, the timing couldn’t have been better. His children had begun with their summer vacation and so his family could accompany him and stay with his maternal aunt in Montreal.
Mr. Vyas has two teenage children, one boy 15 years and daughter 13 years old. Mr. Vyas’s wife, is a typical Indian lady who had never worn any western clothes. As soon as Vedprakash broke this news at home there was an atmosphere of frenzy and cheers. After the news settled down, the first thing Mrs. Vyas said was, “Mere pass Canada jane ke liye koi acche kapade nahi hain. Ab kya Karen?”(“I don’t have appropriate clothes to go to Canada, now, what should we do”?). Rohan and Rishika suggested they should visit Central Mall which was very close to their home. Rishika said, “Mom! We’ll get nice kurtis and leggings for you and even I can buy some denims.” Mr. Vyas said, “My boss has said that it will be cold in Montreal and we will need jackets for all of us.” Mrs. Vyas who was used to buying apparels from Kapda Market and Kothari market was sceptical in going to Central. Her notion was that it would be too expensive. Her children, who are frequent visitors to such malls, convinced her otherwise. “Not only will you get everything under one roof, but also there are many schemes”, said Rishika.
Vyas family reached Central at 4:00 pm on Wednesday. They were guided to the parking area by a guard and were able to park their car well. Mr. Vyas, who is very possessive about his new Verna, was happy. Before entering the mall, they were frisked by security personnel. As soon as they entered the mall, Mrs. Vyas exclaimed, “Oh! It’s so comfortable and clean in here. The temperature and lighting is very good. But, what song is that? It’s a bit too loud.” Rohan and Rishika exchanged smiles... “It’s a popular song by DJ David Guetta.....you won’t know about it”, said Rohan.
As they all needed jackets they went to the Apparel section first. They were greeted ‘Namaste’ with a smile by the sales representative. He told them that as this was summer time and Woollens and Jackets are a seasonal item, they won’t be available. He told them not to be disheartened, “We have our Factory Outlet Shops and Warehouses which stores such non seasonal items. Also, they are at good prices.” To save time, the Vyas family split for shopping. Mr. Vyas and Rohan went to the sports and footwear section whereas Mrs. Vyas and Rishika went to women’s section. Before guiding them to the relevant sections, the salesman had also passed on adequate information.
Rohan wanted to buy a pair of sports shoes. As soon as they reached the sports section, Rohan was impressed by the video display of ‘Sketchers’ brand’s latest shoe – Shape Ups. He was again greeted by a salesperson and was helped with choosing a pair of shoes. There were a vast variety to choose from – Adidas, Nike, Reebok, Puma, Converse, Sketchers etc. Mr. Vyas was happy to know that there was an additional discount of 15% if they bought a particular brand. The display of a few brands like Buckaroo was very impressive. They started browsing through various other sections.
In the mean while, both mother and daughter picked up kurtis, leggings and denims. Mrs Vyas said, “Rishika, this experience is much better than visiting malls with small shops. The layout is better and more convenient to shop. The demarcation is very subtle. But dear, one thing which I don’t appreciate in malls is the exclusivity of merchandise. Similar clothes are available in all sizes and colours.....I may end up wearing same stuff as others. For my regular wear, I would still like to purchase cloth and get it stitched.”
While they were shopping, they heard a loud beep and saw security personnel running towards the door. Later they came to know that by mistake one of the hard tags of a customer’s merchandise wasn’t removed....On seeing additional discounts on some goods, they ended up buying more stuff than planned. Mrs. Vyas seemed to be unhappy about it. “It’s better to go to markets which don’t lure you with unnecessary stuff.” she commented.
By the time they wound up shopping, it was 7:00pm. Mrs Vyas hadn’t prepared dinner, so they planned to eat in ‘The Village Restaurant’. After a sumptuous meal, the Vyas family returned home content and happy.
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