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Shopping offline has its own charm, say city folk [Bangalore] [Times of India](Times of India Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) BANGALORE: Diwali, the Festival of Lights and good fortune, will be celebrated with gusto by Bangaloreans. The changing demographics of the city mean Diwali has gone from being an intimate family affair to one that embraces friends and the larger community in equal measure. The increasingly secular nature of the festival is also a big draw. Shopping, perhaps, has been the highest this year, partly driven by aggressive sales campaigns by online stores. We bring to you samples of how Bangaloreans went about buying gifts for themselves, friends and family this season. City folk are enjoying rubbernecking in front of mannequins and brightly lit display areas before slipping into shops to strike a hard bargain - buying everything from clothes to gold to silver coins to art. Evidently, touch-and- feel shopping is still a favourite, the manna of discounts by e-tailers notwithstanding. The sweat and smell of the hoi polloi still hold magic. Markets like Jayanagar IV Block, Malleswaram and Commercial Street have come alive with shoppers. Balasaraswati Devi, 66, from Malleswaram says: "I don't know whether you get mango, betel and banana leaves, kumkum, flowers and idols of Lakshmi online. Even if I could get these online, I would rather bargain and buy." For many youngsters, too, driving hard bargains holds greater charm than online bargains. "We've bought little gifts for ourselves, parents and siblings from Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon; but shopping in Malleswaram and Commercial Street with friends is absolutely fun. I may not end up buying whatever I bargain for, but it feels good if they give it at low rates. Bouts of shopping can be spiced up with chaats by the roadside," says Suchethna Prakash, 20, a graduate. Techies and working couples are, of course, shopping online, but agree that not everything can be got there. "We've done most of our shopping from e-commerce websites because of the great deals, including gifts for my wife, family and friends. Some of them are arriving late, but it's fine because we're getting them dirt cheap. We bought a lot of home furnishings online too, but we still like to go to the Jayanagar BDA Complex to buy diyas, lights, idols of Lakshmi-Ganesha and flowers," admits Anubhav Srivastava, a techie from Bannerghatta Road. For doctor couple Sunil Narayan and Chandrika Dutt, Diwali shopping is largely online. Daughter Aishwarya, a medical college student, and ninth-grade son Aditya bought gifts on Flipkart and Amazon. "The kids bought us surprise gifts, including a Lenovo laptop. Life has gone online," laughs Dr Dutt, an ENT surgeon. "We bought books and shoes online at good discounts, and some gifts are yet to arrive," says Aishwarya. When it comes to buying silk saris, women prefer brick-and-mortar stores. "I wanted to buy a traditional Mysore silk sari. How do you buy a sari without touching it? I want to drape it and see if it suits my complexion," says Mrudula Venkat, an HR professional from BTM Layout. Sriram Gadepalli, 9, from Bull Temple Road in south Bangalore, bought a 10-gear Hercules cycle. "It was my dream and my parents gifted it to me. You can't buy such a cycle without seeing the product," says Sriram, a cycling enthusiast. Diwali and art Sridevi and Shyam Rao from Jayanagar chose some eclectic gifts too. "At an art sale, we saw a work both of us liked. When we realized the proceeds were being used by Smile Foundation to help underprivileged children, we knew it would be our Diwali gift, as it also helps light up a child's life," says Shyam Rao, an ex-serviceman. They bought renowned artist G Subramanian's collage for Rs 40,000. Lord Krishna now adorns their living room. Gifting each other silverware is the Diwali tradition in this Gujarati family. Dipen Mehta, an industrialist from Seshadripuram, devoted Tuesday to silver shopping. "We gift silver articles as tokens to bring Goddess Lakshmi home. We also buy empty books, while silver cups, jugs and even coins are tokens of good luck." (c) 2014 Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited |