In the City of Malls & Multiplexes

A couple of months into my India Sojourn I thought the best way to respond to the frequent "What's new?" queries from across the globe was via this blog. 
The other day I went to watch Kaminey with some friends on Independence Day. Anyone seen it yet? C'est un film noir est tres dramatique. Not as scary as Ghajini thankfully. The second half was better than first half. Priyanka Chopra also shows some spirit. Shahid did well on the 'dark character(s)'. There are some loopholes and some bollywood-style cliches. Watch out for the song 'Dhan-te nan'!

I saw the film at PVR Priya in Vasant Vihar - a place which is vastly changed since my younger days. No longer the ultra-cool hangout from my school and college days, it is now in a state of sad disrepair. Most of the boutique shops and the 'happening' crowd that visited them have moved about two miles south to DLF Emporio which is the new shopping 'maal' enroute to Vasant Kunj. It comes complete with a multiplex, food court, swanky interiors and designer shops. Swarovski, Cartier, Armani and Louis Vuitton brush shoulders with each other. TGIF, to which I owe my discovery of blue Curaçao, is on the last two months of its lease at old Vasant Vihar, eager no doubt to move to the new mall.

With DLF Emporio becoming the latest débutante, the Select City Mall block in Saket my friends, is passé (been there done that, so crowded yaar...yawnnn). The road in front of the trio of Saket malls looks like a Car Exhibition Fest on most evenings, but particularly on weekends. These malls exist adjacent to each other but did anyone think how people were actually going access these malls? Once inside you notice that only the food courts are alive and buzzing with people. Understandable, as Indians do love their food courts. Everyone else is hanging out there to escape the searing heat, grab some free air-conditioning comfort during Delhi's scheduled afternoon power-cuts and of course to eye the crowd.

On my last visit a newly wed 'bahu' with her head covered was being shown the exotic sites of Delhi Shopping 'Maals' and the correct use of escalators by her loving husband. The upper middle class folk were checking out other upper middle class folk (easy to spot with the two house maids in tow, holding their bags and pushing their prams). The group of Haryana blokes could be seen eyeing and mentally undressing both the desi girls in short shorts and strappy dresses as well as the firang women in long skirts and full sleeve blouses (ha the firang ladies have clearly read the Lonely Planet tips on dressing in Dilli). The teenage girls and their mums were heading for the organic food counters and the batik-patterned kurtis in 'Fab India'. College boys and young men were happily treating their dates to expensive coffee and cake (about Rs 140 for Chai at 'Tea Leaf and Coffee Bean'. Ok it was really good chai latte but at the UK Starbucks price of 1.95 GBP?!)

Interestingly, the hoity-toity in Delhi pretend not to go to shopping malls, and certainly not to the food courts ("Ughh that's so middle class"). Under extreme duress, they will head for the multiplex cinema and then to the exclusive Italian/ Thai/ Lebanese restaurants in some of the nicer (read excessively expensive) floors of exclusive shopping malls. You should expect prices in these fancy restaurants to be in line with GBP (£) prices and the chefs have usually trained abroad so they are using some pretty authentic flavours, albeit with that hard-to-resist Indian twist. 

Incidentally the parking lot in the very new mall in Vasant Kunj is so full on weekends  that there is often a waiting period on the local road outside. Predictably this leads to a mini traffic-jam on the approach road with the 'regular' visitors in the bigger cars getting increasingly indignant and impatient at not being treated with PRIORITY. Once inside, the massive parking lot is choc-a-bloc with BMWs, Skodas, Mercedes, a couple of Honda cities and a handful of humble Santros and Altos.

You must wonder why I keep going on about shopping 'Maals'. Well it seems there is little else that urban folks are doing in Delhi except visiting them and getting sucked into the web of consumerism that is reminiscent of 1980s/1990s USA. There is a select group who watch theatre at Kamani Auditorium and frequent dance/ music shows at Siri Fort and the India Habitat Centre (I am trying to locate and network with these folk). The India International Centre also do some fantastic plays I've heard. My new Indian colleagues and old local acquaintances seem baffled by my interest in the city's museums and galleries- an activity they see as decidedly middle-aged. I remind them about our school trips to the Nehru Planetarium and the Rail Museum (including the time my cousin playfully pushed me into a small water pool there!). On the plus side everyone is talking about the 'Garden of Five Senses' which I have yet to visit. And Dilli Haat remains an all time favourite hang-out for my friends and family with its lovely bazaar-like setting and cuisine from all the Indian states. So I gather about 0.05% of the population is doing something different. Hey its a start !

Meri Dilli Meri Shaan :o)