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Note pad ready? Yes.
Pen ready? Yes.
Letter ready? Yes.
 With all the necessary items in my bag, I made my way. I stood at the entrance for a second but I was whisked in by the crowd which, if I didn’t move, would have run over me. We were greeted with a frown, by a group of girls attired in uniform. I realised that they were there to ‘welcome’ guests but looked to be dreading the entry of more people into the already crowded store. Store? It seemed more like a beehive to me! After waiting for the lift for five minutes (which felt like an hour), we decided to use the stairs. My mother clutched her handbag tightly on one side and my hand on the other and dragged me in. Hang on! What’s this place? This is precisely the question that you would ask when you enter Saravana Stores. This is not just another Saravana. Welcome to “Saravana
Bramaandamaai.”
I went with the intent of meeting the manager
or any other authorised person to do a detailed feature on them
with some aunthetic information. But, in the first place we
decided to do some shopping. With mammoth posters of Nila and
Lakshmi Rai dressed in ‘hip’ salwars and designer sarees
smiling down at us at every landing, the place actually has a lot
to offer. The first four floors are reserved for clothing. We
went straight to the fifth floor which showcases all the
cosmetics and eats (now, that’s interesting!). As expected,
most of the Chennai crowd gathered around the food items. From
‘javvu mittai’ to imported chocolates, dog food to soya milk,
they have them all and at reduced prices.
It was nice to see that they had managed to
have everything in their shop, including fresh fruits and
vegetables. A lot of thought and planning must have gone into the
making of such a shop. With hundreds of shoppers scrambling into
the same store, it made things difficult for both the customers
and the sales persons. Many people used a shopping cart and
nonchalantly threw in anything that they could put their hands on
but unfortunately had no place to move the cart.
Meanwhile, I asked my mom to keep a check on
what she was buying lest she be carried away by the variety and
the discounts. I finally decided that we should meet the manager
or owner or anyone available who would spare some time to give
some details about the shop. One of the workers told me that the
owner would be available after a while. So, we made our way back
into the shop. This time to the seventh floor.
I was amazed to see the different styles of
branded sandals kept there. I gave a longing look at my mother.
She turned away pretending to look at the rates. (Darn it! I had
just bought a new pair last week). After an hour of window
shopping (?) we returned to the first floor to meet the owner. I
showed the “personal assistant” my letter from COL, who went
into the owner’s room with it. Neither the letter nor our
presence did seem to convince the top man. ”Next week vaangamma!
Ippa busyaa irukkaru,” returned the boy with the letter. Oh
man! All this for nothing?
Nevertheless, the store was and ‘is’ doing
tremendous business about a year after its opening. I felt that
it could have been better if they had increased the ground area
to facilitate better shopping comforts. ‘Bramaandamai’ is
still not enough for the shopping-crazy middle class of Chennai.
An increase in the number of billing counters should reduce the
waiting time. But the major aspect of maintaining a big (really
big) shop is its security features. Though I didn’t spot any
closed circuit cameras installed anywhere, I guessed that even if
they had installed them, it would require a lot of patience to
keep an eye on the entire crowd.
The shop draws all kinds of people, like
foreigners in trendy mini skirts and our own girls in traditional
pattu paavadais. What surprised me most was that the shop offered
items worth 50 paise to 50,000 rupees and more. In fact, it is a
shop for everyone rather than for only middle class or lower. Who
doesn’t want to buy things at a bargain? And, many people sat
down on the stairs at the entrance, to discuss and review all the
items that they had bought. What an ideal location!
Well, after spending about three hours in the
store without any success in gathering information from the horse’s
mouth, I did have something to be happy about. “A bag full of
goodies!”
The next day when my mom and I were talking to
our neighbour about our shopping experience, she asked us – “Did
you visit the cafeteria there?”
This place has a cafeteria too? I looked at my
mother.
Let’s go…
Sandhya Santhanaraman
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