Shopping when ABC knows XYZ

My sister’s wedding is round the corner and our house and its inmates are gripped by the pre-wedding frenzy. My father can be seen making guest, shopping, catering, decoration etc lists, on any piece of paper he can lay his hands on- on the blank side of bills, envelopes, old newspapers, wedding invitation cards….talk of conserving paper and trees…

My mother can be heard giving details of the wedding to friends and relatives, and my sister can be seen & heard talking non-stop into her phone to an obliging ear on the other end, ever since the engagement. And I can be seen collecting bits of papers for my father to scribble on, fishing out old phone books for my mother and doing lunch, breakfast and dinner room-service for my sister who is stuck to her phone. Ok, that last bit is exaggerated but what the heck!

It is in the midst of this chaos that dear Uncle ABC comes to help. Now, Uncle ABC has a wide social circle. This circle includes textile shop owners, jewelers, caterers, photographers, videographers, beauticians, decorators….well anything that our situation demands. Naturally, he volunteered to help us out. After the venue and banquet bookings were done (which was handled adeptly by Uncle ABC), the next big task was shopping. Uncle ABC suggested PQR Silks for clothes shopping as he knew the owner, because of which, he claimed we could get discounts. Seeing no reason to turn down the offer, Dad, Mom, Sis and I shrugged and obliged. Uncle ABC looked pleased.

PQR Silks, Thrissur, looked like the new venue of the Thrissur Pooram. It seemed like a cyclone had washed away all the textile showrooms in the city (sparing this one) plus whatever clothes the residents of Thrissur possessed (sparing of course, the one they were wearing). How else could a six storied showroom be packed like that left, right, centre and top?!

After pushing our way to the respective sections and picking up stuff in a hurry to get out, we stood solemnly at the payment counter, expecting bags of freebies and huge discounts, courtesy Uncle ABC’s owner-friend. The discount was not jaw-dropping, just about ok. One you would get even without the ‘contact’, perhaps. All the way home Uncle ABC kept saying that they must have stuffed the kits with gifts. At home, we opened pack after stuffed pack finding nothing but clothes. The last one was opened with some anticipation as we still had not discovered one complimentary gift. And finally, some more clothes.

The next day, Uncle ABC volunteered to take us jewellery shopping and once again we shrugged, obliged. This time around too, he claimed of ‘personally knowing’ the fellows there and that they would charge just 5% as panikkooli (making cost). It was said with as much conviction as he had spoken about PQR Silks.

At the Jewellery showroom I found myself comparing the huge bangles on display to deformed potatoes and the heavy gold necklaces to decaying jackfruits dangling from sturdy branches, while the other ladies of the group selected stuff. My sister shot hateful glances my way, her disdain at my callous attitude, apparent. To keep her humoured, I started saying things like ‘Hey that’s not good’, ‘Now that looks nice’ etc.

The shopping was done, the bill paid. Only 5% of the making cost was levied and all were happy. Later, I came to know through Uncle ABC’s daughter that the bond he was talking about originated from their one-single visit to the shop. No ‘own fellows’. And charging only 5 % of the making cost was no big deal. All jewellery showrooms have that offer for people purchasing for weddings.

And what did we learn from this? That ‘contacts’ are beneficial to the businessmen alone and not to the poor laymen who proudly claim of knowing them. And when someone claims to know XYZ one shouldn’t have ones hopes high. It’s a ‘business’ contact after all!