Skip to main content

"Green is your Colour"

SAREES are some of the nicest things I'd spend my money on although I only see myself wearing them three or four times a year for weddings. Still, I love sarees more than any other Indian costume cuz they bring out a woman's curves in a most flattering way (provided one wears one that's suitable). So, while shopping with my mother and aunt yesterday, I dragged them out of a spice shop to check out a certain saree boutique on Lahat Road, Ipoh. Beautiful colours and materials in all shades and texture, some were designer sarees, and some, according to the shop assistant, were 'one-only' pieces.

"Unique pieces, Miss. If you wear one of these to a party, I guarantee you'd be the only one wearing it," he said in good spirit. Sounded nice, but I've always taken the sweet words of a saree shop assistant with a jar of salt. At least this person stopped at that. Some fellas would start qouting you their 'best price' once they've noticed your lingering eyes on a piece or two for more than 15 secs, and most just wouldn't stop until you're paying for at least a piece. These ruthless people are capable of ruining the wonderful experience of saree-shopping, and that's because I think they tend to compare saree-shopping to their underwear shopping. The concept of window-shopping clearly does not exist for them.

Bridal Saree
Anyways, this man, the shop assistant was pretty young and somewhat boyish (not the usual type you see at saree shops) - tall and lean, probably in his early 20s, with a head full of fashionably cut and dyed reddish brown hair, an earring on the left lobe, dressed casually in blue jeans and a black shirt and tagged with bursting enthusiasm to sell sarees (and other Indian costumes). From the moment we walked in, he was unwrapping several heavily jewelled sarees (mind you, sarees are 6 meters long, and folding them back on neatly isn't one of my favourite things to do or watch others do) across us, constantly enquiring about my favourite colours. You see, I don't know why they do that , I don't buy sarees based on the favourite colour rule cuz otherwise I'd be having a closet full of green and black sarees by now.

By this time, the young man was rolling out more sarees, and each time he did it, he made sure a part of a saree fell on my shoulder so it slowly slided down my arm so I could catch a glimpse of it on the strategically placed mirror before me. Now, that's another saree-selling technique : put it on the woman, so she can see it glitter on her under the grandeur of the chandellier glow! You know what, it tickled me to watch the earnest young man in action (considering the pot-bellied old man in a turban at the corner, whom I presumed was his boss, watching him like an eagle), and I tried to maintain a poker face throughout the show, but my mother had to spoil it for me. GRRR. And more grrrr.

Lovely Yellow
"This olive one looks good on you. Notice the lace border, it's so pretty," she said, and as if it was a cue, the dude insisted that he tied it on me, just so I can 'see the full beauty' of the saree.

Oh yikes. And so he began. Tucking one end of the piece into my jeans, he asked me to twirl a full circle to the right, before folding the centre into a pleat and tucking it at the front (it was weird having a strange man tuck his fingers at the front of my pant while my mother watched approvingly), and letting the rest of the material to hang over my left shoulder in its full glitter and glory. It was absolutely lovely, the saree. But I still wasn't going to buy it - I had only wanted to window shop, and I had informed the guy of it from the very beginning when he was still on my favourite colours.

"Look for yourself, it looks gorgeous on you. Green is your colour," he said brightly, not knowing that I already own 10 green sarees in different shades in my collection.

He was cool about it, and didn't 'show a face' when I still refused to buy it. In fact, he thanked me and passed me a business card. I smiled a genuine smile and thanked him in return. That was a relief, and a surprise too, because most shop assistants would be cranky for having had to spread open a stack of sarees out of their own free will, despite you telling them not to. I dislike those types - those who force a customer to pay for any random saree just because they had tried to be helpful. Personally, if a shop assistant is going to be harrasing and pressuring me on my purchases, I'd never go back to the shop. 

Respect consumer rights, otherwise it's just going to be Tata - Bye Bye for me no matter how beautiful a saree is! 

Comments

  1. The boy needs to go on a subtlety class. Being helpful works better than being pushy. Some Indian women wear bare tummy saris. Are they not allowed in Malaysia?

    ReplyDelete
  2. All is allowed here, GB, as long as you respect holy places of worship :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would be very tempted to buy a saree if I visited that shop. When in Vietnam I had two heavenly green ao dais made for me. They fit like gloves and are so flattering

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mdias: they really are :) unfortunately the shop assistants annoy me

    Nursie: Au dais are also very flattering ! And it's great that you had them tailor-made for you - you get the best fit that way. Should put up a pix on your blog. I was given a pair once as a gift, but it was an ill-fitting standard size piece :(

    ReplyDelete
  5. they are nice! and a lil sexy if i say so myself!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Those look very nice.

    Check out my math blog.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Justin : They are right? That's why I love them :)

    Math Blog : Thanks! Will be following :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nice sarees, but where are you, Jaya J? :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Award on Oscar Day

THANKS for the Kreativ Blogger award on Oscar Day,  Queen Bee . It is sweet to pin a badge like this here and since this is my first award, it's all the more sweet.  With this, I'm required to list out ten random things about myself and later tag six other favourite bloggers.  Let's start with the 10 Random Things :)  1) Diamonds are not for me.  I admire jewelry (fine or otherwise) but I'm not in love with them enough to want to own them. My favourite jewelry is a pair of white pearl stud earrings.  2) I drink water for breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner. It's just a good habit I can't break. I usually write with a bottle of water next to me instead of a mug of coffee.  3) I love balms . Nothing calms me better than a nice balm. It reminds me of my grandma, clears my mind, and puts me to sleep.  4) I keep a hammer in my bedroom.  It came in handy TWICE when the lock jammed. I broke it and set me free. My mother was petrified with the knowledge that m

From Doha, With Love : Minimal Changes

SO I've been to Doha a few times already by now. Minimal or no changes at all on this flat land of sand and sandstorms, except that the population seemed to have increased by god-knows-how-many-folds judging from the volume of people seen at the popular Souk Waqif in the city centre two days ago. It's like people have multiplied like the sea sands. The last few times I was there, I remember liking the place for what it was - a perfect venue to people-watch, smoke Shisha and be a tourist. Now I don't know if that's a good thing... ...if there aren't enough social venues for this astounding volume! Perhaps, I'm a little spoiled coming from a city where food is available 24 hours a day, with freedom of alcohol consumption at random bistros and cafes and to do just about everything I wished for in a cultural setting that doesn't stare at me like I'm some kind of a three-eyed monster. I suppose people here are just a curious bunch given the potpourri of

The Mean One

WHAT do I do without prompts during sluggish times like this. Thanks to Mama Kat's. I'd share something mean someone had said to me once, and why it has stuck with me after all these years.  You know how some people are plain weird ? The type that others would avoid simply because it's the easy way out around them? I've always thought that some of these individuals are just lonely and they could do with company once in a while. That's how I ended up spending some tea breaks with Madam X because most people just avoided her. So yeah. I took pity. Madam X was a smart lady with just too many personal issues that sometimes screwed up her talents. Often in a dreamy state, she loved talking about the drama that went on in her life and I'd always just listened. She also frequently went off topic and lectured about randoms things like what's inside a computer or the circuit of an electrical device. Now that's clearly not my cup of tea but I'd alway