For the Love of Shopping

Today I Bought a Bag (Feb 2008)

It was yet again a boring Monday according to me, but destiny had other plans to make it an eventful day. Me and my Creative Head Shaily were chilling on our beautiful office terrace and smoking suddenly she came up with the idea of going shopping since there was nobody else in the office and we could easily step out saying that we were going for a script meeting, though Shaily doesn’t make a good shopping partner but still I agreed as shopping is my first love. We left the office at 4:00pm in Shaily's car which she for some reason used to call "Chotu". However we sat in Chotu and it was a 15 minutes drive and reached Inorbit Mall at exactly 4:15, shopping is my life, so as soon as we parked Chotu I headed towards Shoppers Stop but sadly couldn't find anything exciting, though Shaily bought a couple of things from there and I was getting annoyed with myself it was already half an hour and I hadn’t bought a single thing.

Our next stop was Esbeda, it’s a local brand of Bags and accessories, it can be called Mumbai ka Channel in bags, though it’s a little expensive brand but I like their stuff. We spent some time looking for some nice bag for Shaily but she didn't like any, we were planning to leave when my eyes fell on this amazing multi-colored leather bag. It was one hell of a bag it was just the right size and it had all me favorite colors purple, yellow, green and black, it had purple leather design running over the yellow back ground with a little green and black detailing. Oh! It was gorgeous. I picked up the bag and was trying it in front of the mirror all excited and I asked Shaily how was it? She was indifferent she said it was okay, that very instant I knew she was jealous of my choice.

Hah! I was gonna buy that bag and then carry it every day to make her more jealous. I asked the sales guy for the price he said it was for Fifteen One Eighty. I told him to pack it immediately before Shaily talks me out of it. Shaily said it was a damn expensive bag and I shouldn't be wasting my money, see I knew she was jealous and paying Fifteen Hundred for a bag was not a big deal I have even more expensive bags. I took the bag gave the sales guy my debit card which thankfully had a lot of money as it was just 8^th of Feb. and my salary had just came in. He gave me the receipt I happily singed it and took my precious multi-colored Esbeda bag and I walked out of the store with new confidence. Shaily was still cribbing and yapping something about prioritizing my life and money management and something, but I wasn’t really listening just nodding. I was smiling inside for being the possessor of such a cheap and gorgeous bag which people would think is worth some Four Thousand Rupees. Shaily dropped me at the Juhu circle I took a rickshaw and rushed home as I wanted to show my beautiful bag to my flat mate and my best friend Jojo (short of Jyoti). I called her up on the way and told her about the bag, she was already sounding excited. I love Jojo as she understands me and my shopping addiction completely and no matter what I buy or how much I spend she always loves my stuff.

I reached home at 7 in the evening Jojo was sipping her tasteless without-sugar tea and reading the newspaper she had just gotten up as she studies at night and wakes up in the evening, she is preparing for her exams she is doing her B.E, which is again a big connect between me and her as I am also an Engineer, I know hard to believe but true I am an Electronics and Communications Engineer and proud to be one though I never took engineering seriously I just scraped through my exams and there I am with a professional degree, it has no connect with my current profession but you know it leaves a good impression and sounds cool too. I totally understand her plight. She was super excited to see my bag we jumped on the bed for at least 10mins before collapsing on the same. She was awestruck that I got such an amazing bag for just 15 hundred bucks and we decided that we will tell Jiya (our third flat mate we call her M.J not as Michael Jackson but as Moti Jyoti) that the bag is worth 5 thousand. It was 8 already and Jojo had to study so I decided to go out with Rahul (my current boyfriend whom Jojo doesn’t like much but I feel he is totally marriage material).

He picked me up for dinner and after dinner we went to his house for a cup of coffee it was already 11pm and I was too sleepy I had to be at office the next day, so we planned to call it a night. Right when I was entering the building lift to go home my phone beeped. It was an sms, generally no one smses me this late in the night except when we are palnning to go clubbing as in me and JoJo but that was out of question as she was having her exams so I checked it immediately it was from HDFC bank saying "your account has been debited Rs.15,180/- towards Esbeda today at 4:45pm" it took me a minute to understand what I had just read, I was in shock I asked Rahul to read the message for me and tell me what does this mean. He told me it was pretty clearly written that I had bought a bag worth Fifteen thousand rupees from Esbeda. I told him that I had bought a bag but it was just for fifteen hundred and the store guys have cheated me. Rahul asked me if I had checked the receipt before signing it and I just couldn't say anything because I never check anything before signing and a shopping receipt of all the things I mean who checks them. He asked me that has the sales man given you a counter receipt I said yes he did and I should sue them on the basis of that receipt. I rushed home and checked my bag and the receipt it was written in bold there that the bag was worth 15,180 and not 15,80. I was in tears by this time, Jojo came out of the room she asked me to check the price-tag on the bag I checked it and it read in black bold letters MRP Rs.15,180/-. I started crying hysterically and Jojo started laughing the same way even Rahul started laughing, yet again I had made a fool out of myself all because of my shopping addiction. Also I was wrong about Jojo understanding me and my addiction, she doesn't.

- Sneh

…to be continued.