Men are from mars, women are from shopper's stop!

Typical scene at a busy shopping mall..

Woman, eyes lit, thrilled, checking out stuff on display, buying this and that after careful deliberation of style, color etc; man, looking dazed, handing out credit/debit card as and when the bill payment time arrives, feeling not unlike a hostage in a hold-up situation; babies crying/cranky/asleep from all the crying and crankiness, kids running helter-skelter in the shop like bulls on a good day at the stock market! ;)

Shopping with me: me quickly getting things needed on the list, budget issues topmost in my mind, looking to get things done as quickly as possible. Are there more women out there like me?

The change is tangible. Growing up, we had no concept of shopping malls, or of visiting a beautifully decorated place just to get weekly groceries. Our groceries came from the neighborhood dukaan, with friendly shopkeepers selling us things for daily use, the interaction with the shopkeepers almost as important as getting the things themselves. With the potential entry of Walmart, or its desi cousin, Reliance fresh, shopping for groceries is going to take a on whole new meaning, and is set to become a totally different experience.

Ditto with watching movies. Gone are the days of hot and stuffy theaters where the projector would have problems midway thru the movie. Enter the multiplex with its surround sound, so that you can hear every bit of Shah Rukh Khan's chatter as if he were sitting right next to you.

Hmm..times are a-changing!