Mall (sans) culture

Shopping Mall  culture  is fast invading our lives , even in small cities and towns. The new locality  where we have shifted  some seven months back has mercifully no Mall . It may be more convenient  to  finds goods of daily need and use under one roof  and may also save  us  our  ‘valuable’  time  which each one of us  seems to have run out of   these days  due to hectic schedule and racy lifestyle,  but still I for one miss that personal  bond that existed between the  dealer/merchant/shopkeeper and the customer  in good old days.

I remember my childhood , when as kids,  for years we  went  to a particular barber for a haircut- and why not , as it was he who   would come to our home to give us a haircut when we were too young  to sit on a   high chair  in the shop  in front of a large  mirror  and  unable  to absorb the unfamiliar atmosphere of a  shop or a saloon.  He won’t   mind walking two kilometer  one way  on foot  when a haircut  fetched him  only   20-25 paise .  I still remember his name- Jhania Ram.

Similarly , Kammi  (Karam Chand ) was our family  tailor , till the time   we  grew up and  became fashion  and style conscious  to look for   ‘better’  choice or alternative .

Like wise, one Bhagwati Prasad  was our dhobi for many years  and my  father would endearingly  call him baretha , the meaning  of the word unknown to us  even today.    The grocer    and the sabziwala  would  gladly offer my father a seat inside the  small  shop  where  gup-shup  would go on for quite some time . I never saw  my father  haggling over price with any one.

Walking around in a shopping mall with a trolly  may satisfy our ego for a while, but  the pleasure of shopping  for    various goods  from   different  shops  was  immense. The personal bond  is  certainly missing in these shopping malls, however courteous the  attendants   may appear to be !