Q.1 How much time does it take to buy 2 trousers?
Long Answer: My onsite assignment to Japan was confirmed which left me with a week to shop, settle things with my landlord and take care of my beloved bike. Of these activities, shopping was the most time consuming activity. Compounding my inability to choose things quickly was the fact that no one, who had accompanied me before for any kind of shopping, was willing to do it again. The first time anyone did so was also their last. You`ll know why shortly.
Ok, so the list consisted of 4 trousers, 6 shirts, 3 tee`s, a couple of denims, a lot of winter wear and other essentials. I decided to start with trousers. The first hurdle was cleared when I learnt that Jai Prakash(JP) an old friend of mine was now the store manager at Shoppers Stop, Pune.
I was confident that SS would have a lot of variety and range, a kind of "one-stop-shop", to suit my needs. After fixing an appointment with the manager I was on my way, with a bungee cord (to strap all the stuff, post shopping, to my bike), to Shoppers Stop.
JP and I were meeting after about 4 years and so had a lot of catching up to do. We updated each other over some coffee and then the mission was on. Having a friend who is a store manager is good. Having a friend who is a store manager in the same store that you choose to shop is even better. Having a friend who is a store manager in the same store that you choose to shop and who is willing to help you is the best. That was what happenning to me.
"Deepak, zara sir ko Wills, Blackberry aur VanHuesen ke trousers dikhana". Deepak with two of his cornies is next to me in an instant. All of them are carrying more than 4 trousers of each brand! And so it finally began.
JP, besides being a good friend and a wonderful store manager, is also a husband and a loving son. However, his need to support his family far exceeds his desire to help me choose my trousers. So after about an hour and 20 trouser trials, he was beginning to fear for his job and the store! He left me with an execuse to attend to a problem. With their leader gone, the others too retreated in no time. That left me alone, but so what? I`m used to it.
I turned my attention to shirts and tried about 10 of them before deciding that they were beyond my budget (tubelight?). Soon, I was back attacking the trouser racks with unimaginable needs for pocket styles, self-designs, fronts, pleats, seam lengths, etc when one of the attendants had a brainwave. He took me to the tailor and left me there. He dissappeared before I could ask him the need to do so. It was a very subtle yet obvious way of telling me to get the hell out of the store and get a trouser stiched!! Hmm. (I did that too, but not before I had made an emotional wreck of the salesman at SS, and last I heard was the Raymonds head tailor was on a vacation to Bhutan; in Bhutan clothes are mostly wrap arounds!!)
So after taking the hint I was back in the trousers section and I guess JP had recovered by then. He did his best to help me again but soon, and as expected, had another meeting to attend to.
Finally, there was something I liked and was on my way to the cashier. After about 30 trouser trials, 15 shirt trials and 4 tee shirt/pullover trials, I purchased two trousers and went home for dinner.
Short Answer: 6 hours.
