Where would you go on a shopping spree?
I spent most of my childhood in a 10km diameter around my school so I could either walk to school or when I reached the outer edge, use the school bus. Shopping wasn’t something we did in those days. Toys when we had them were hand me downs, we used to play on the streets, using stones and construction sand as toys. Long jump, high jump, sand play, was thanks to the neighbours that were renovating their homes. Clothes were hand me downs and it never mattered to anyone. We enjoyed a rather pleasant hill station climate, rains almost every evening, but if I was lucky, it would rain after I had finished my playtime. There were those odd days, when it would rain during playtime, and I would be forced to sit indoors and that’s when mum wondered what to do with me. I was never a silent-play-in-the-side kind of kid so I never took to the kitchen set or the dolls. I had been given one doll from a family friend, which was a stuffed doll with wool as hair, ugly as hell, but the hair kept me occupied and mum never complained.
Sometimes I used the vessels from the kitchen, but it never captured my attention for long. But one day, I found the neighbour had the full kitchen set, and I was tempted. I begged and pleaded and started using the regular utensils as my toys to force my mums hand, and succeeded eventually. She promised to take me to the store over the weekend.
In typical hill station fashion, Saturday started cloudy, and then it just kept building up. Mum was busy at home, and once she was done with work, it did not look like a good day to head out. Mum tried pushing it off for the next day, but me, the horror that I was, refused and insisted she keep her word. So off we went. To the market. On the TVS! I was small enough to not be able to hold mum around the waist, and sit at the back, so I had no to sit in the front, on the leg rest. It did not faze me, mum wore her helmet, tucked her sari pleats at her waist and off we went. But before we left, she made me promise that I would only get what had been promised. Nothing more. And I agreed. I was a rule following trauma, but if I agreed to the conditions, I never broke them.
Off we went, little me, perched on the foot rest, the wind in my hair, absolutely no sun, anticipating my own toy. We had to ride for about 6 or 7 km, to reach the market. There were other markets where we could have tried, but mum had promised to take me to this one, and since it had been promised, I was only going to go there. It took us about ½ an hour to get there, traffic was sparse thanks to the clouds. Mum was worried, she did not like riding in the rain, and I was too young to understand. But we reached and parked and secured the bike, when the first few drops fell. Mum rushed us into the market before the clouds shattered. I paid no heed to the rains, or being rushed, I had reached heaven. Little me, barely 3 feet off the ground had walked into a store that was easily 20 feet high, with rows and rows of toys stacked from floor to ceiling in haphazard Jenga towers. These rows were manned by men and women of all shapes and sizes, who were thrilled to see a customer. No one ventured to the markets in cloudy days, we were the only fools, and for them, their only customer. They got on the script, they pulled out everything from the racks, while the lady tried to tempt me, ‘baby, look at this. You want a doll? See this one’, her colleague was busy trying to sell a bicycle to mum. And all this was to the sounds of the thunder crashing and streaks of lightning crackling above our heads.
Mum just informed them that I wanted a kitchen set, to which the sales man, wore a dejected look and took us to the appropriate section that had the varieties. Now, this was the bit I loved! I knew what my neighbour had, and I wanted to one-up her. So mine had to be crazy good. I looked, I was considering a stainless steel set, did I want one with the gas cylinder and the mixer grinder? (I’ve seen mum use these appliances so it was the closest set to reality) or did I want the slightly bigger wooden ones, I could actually use them to serve snacks while I played. But this set just had a couple of things- a couple of utensils and no fancy stovetop and gas cylinder and no refrigerator! While I was mulling over this earth-shattering decision, I realised that a combination of the two sets, would be perfect. Looking longingly at both, I asked mum if she would consider both. As tempted as she was, she refused on principle.
Anticipating a sale, the sales lady tried to sell the sets to me, while the wooden one, was awesome, it was slightly more expensive with fewer extras. The stainless reel one, had smaller vessels, but it had everything from the gas and fridge and mixer to the utensils and even a cooker to make rice in, like mum used at home. And it cost less! I was torn. I wanted both, but I had promised mum I would not ask for more than 1 toy. Making the decision, I decided to go with the stainless steel set. Mum made the purchase and we stepped out of the market.
The market really was just this huge warehouse kind of space, that was filled with toys. You entered at one end and you got out at the other. Holding onto my purchase, because I did not want to burden mum with the task of carrying my things along with the bike helmet, handbag and umbrella, she had, I silently traipsed behind her- eyes agog at the sheer variety this store contained. Every sales-person, tried peddling their wares, and while I was interested to see, I was keen to reach home and open my new toy set. Finally, after what seemed like a million steps, through a labyrinthine cave, we stepped outside to find that the rains had stopped. Happy and hoping it would stay that way, mum first secured the toy and then had me seated back on the leg rest and off we went.
The clouds opened up in a couple of places on our way back, and since both mum and I had not got raincoats or jackets, we were soaked through by the time we got back home. At that point, I did not care about foolish things like getting wet in the rain, I was more interested to protect my new toy. As soon as she stopped, I grabbed the toy off the handlebar and rushed inside. I quickly got out of my wet clothes and into dry ones, and then spread a newspaper to open my new toy. And when dad enquired about it, I had the most wonderful things to tell him about the market I had been to. I had no idea then, but that was the first and last time mum took me to that market. She had lost interest in riding so far for something that was just as easily available next door.
Jump to a couple of decades later, and I’ve been to that market with my kids. I guarantee it’s not a fun place to be. The high roof and the jenga style stacking only made me claustrophobic. I never revisited that place, but this shopping expedition, is a gilded memory for me as something mum did not need to do, but she did anyway, to ensure I was happy.
If I could go back in time, to that particular day, then my shopping spree would surely be to that market. The hair on my hand still stands on end, when I think of the variety and kinds of toys I saw in the store that day. And yes! If possible I would have purchased one of every kind I saw there.
Just a little more 