SHOPPINGGGG.......

    

 

Ask any woman, what's her favourite thing ? She would immediately reply without any hesitation " shopping". The love for shopping in women has created hundreds of jokes circulating in all circles- magazines , social gatherings and social media. This shopping craze of women has been ridiculed in movies also .

            Most women love shopping . That's an Universal truth. But unfortunately men find shopping boring. Be it your husband or boyfriend or lover - anyone will hesitate to accompany you to shopping , for sure . My husband is also no exception. He would say he would rather watch a T . Rajendar movie or go for swimming than accompany me to shopping. However when I compel and take him along he gets so bored and slugs in the available couch and makes a pathetic face. 

          Nowadays the shop owners do all sorts of tricks to attract us to their shops. Of late every shop has been giving a family membership card. As you purchase items they add points to your card and you can redeem those points when you shop the next time. Otherwise they give you gift vouchers which can be redeemed on your purchase of some large amount or more . These are tricks by the shop owners to make you to come to their shops again and again. For the fear of losing those bonus points you go there again and again . There will be sales and discounts aplenty throughout the year. They send messages about these sales and keep reminding us to shop. There is a chance that you get carried away by the discount items that seem too good to be true. After shopping  crazily on sale items., the next day or the day after, when you realise that you have gone a bit overboard, nothing could be done to cancel them. 

        When I was young , say ten or eleven my mother used to do her shopping in the nearby provision store. The " Annachi" of the store was my father's friend and when my mother rushes me to buy some dal or salt, I used to sulk. The shopkeeper" Annachi" would say " Enna pappa ? Appa varala ? Sari sari Enna venum?" I used to list out things in hatred and tip myself with a chocolate which would be mostly nutrine in green wrapper ( I think that is no more . Eclairs and nutrine were the only chocolates available then and my mother would allow me only nutrine . She said Eclairs was costly . Now look at the range of chocolates available in the market ! ) I absolutely hated the grocery shopping considering the time I had to wait in the store . So my mother would bribe me occasionally with chocolates . Sometimes a harsh word from her would make me run to the store . Buying vegetables was an easy task for her ., because the vegetable vendor came to doorstep in a bicycle carrying all the vegetables . Milkman came with a pot of milk and we paid him in coupons for which my mother had paid in advance . Clothes shopping was an extravaganza which were available only during Diwali, Pongal and birthdays . Movies were allowed only if we do household chores like cleaning windows , watering plants , etc. Just imagine this Gen x of today . Will they do all these for us ? I think only we have to bribe our children to come with us for shopping . They happily shop online ., watch movies online , read online , chat online , etc . They live in a virtual world ( Sigh*..)

         The supermarket revolution has made grocery shopping an enjoyable chore that any of us look forward to. I think every street or surrounding has a newly opened supermarket that sells almost everything you can think of starting from fruits, vegetables, groceries, snacks, cosmetics, stationery, magazines and the like .

             Glancing around we could see heaps and heaps of biscuits , cakes , sauces ,jams, spreads, pulses, grains, fruits , vegetables, and what not ..,rows and rows of big fat oil cans attractively displayed on the rack  , perhaps inviting you to buy. Bright coloured banners overhead displaying varieties of lip smacking icecreams catching our attention. Usually our shopping carts are fully loaded when we step out to the billing counter .

          I once witnessed  a funny  incident in the supermarket . A mother brought four of her kids there. Even while entering she was advising her children to behave properly. The conversation went in this manner

Mom: Do not make noise and play     

         around . Stay with me always !

Kids: whine *

Mom: Do not touch anything . Especially    

           glass bottles 

Kids : whine continues*

Mom:Do not try to pull things from the   

          bottom row . Tell me and I will help

           you out. 

Kids : whine  still continues*

The instructions were over and they moved on like a parade . The order was maintained for just two minutes . After that all the hell broke loose . The children were running around shouting. The mother couldn't control  them. I was amused and asked her " Are all the four your children?" She replied with a wink in her eyes " No, I bought them in the supermarket ." I had my hearts laugh and moved on.

           I remember when Aruna was young I will not allow her to push the cart because she will always hit my ankles repeatedly. I became so scared if she offers to push the cart and  I used to step back a few steps behind the cart . 

         Though the supermarkets tend to be advantageous and makes shopping a pleasure , it also makes us buy much more we actually intend to . The attractive display of things totally distract us from the original purpose of buying necessary items . The craziness of shopping slowly creeps into us occasionally and we end up buying more than what we intend to. If we make a list and then do shopping , both our wallet and body will thank us. One small piece of advice. I have seen everyone checking the price and expiry date before buying things . I would like everyone checkout this also . Learn to read and understand the labels on food items . Low fat , zero cholesterol , no added sugar - these are the attractive labels printed on the cover . Ignore them . Read the nutritional labels to get an idea of the calorie content . 

For sugar : 5 gm or less per 100 gm

For salt.   : 0.3 gm or less per 100 gm

For fat.     : 5 gm or less per 100 gm

Remember , just because it is low calorie it doesn't mean it is healthy. Of late I have become a little bit health freak and I beleive in  that I am eating a balanced meal . So I have been advising whosoever I meet with some nutritional tips.  I could see persons who begin to hear my advice with ernest interest , wriggle with an uneasiness by the end of it ( my whole family ridicules my food habits ). One friend came came out with a frank reply " Mam I can't drink green tea like you and all . Tell me something other than diet and nutrition ." 

Whatever, I beleive in what I do and canvass about it incessantly .

          

   One final word - knowing what you are buying and why you are buying will reduce the unnecessary task of rethinking about the discarding your favourite items from the shopping cart at the billing counter .  This  whole piece of essay may sound like advice , but honestly these are my views and are shared with an ernest interest to share knowledge .