Rangachari cloth store

We used to stay very close to Rangachari cloth store. I had realised then that this shop is a must visit for all NRIs who had grown up in Mylapore, when they come back for holidays. It has the quiet neighbourhood store look and feel about the place. You need to sit down on the floor and quietly gaze at the latest and the never changing saree designs all under one roof.Attrition is a word the shop has not heard so far; I can see the same salesman happily showing you the wares once you position yourself correctly. I made the mistake of sitting down at a random place and asking for kodambakkam sarees in nine yards. The salesman was quite shocked. He said not here and would not even direct me to the correct corner. The shop is not more than 3 small rooms of a house and it was perhaps the first time that a customer does not know her way around the shop. It was then i realised that the shop believes in having customers for ever including two or three generations of them. Perhaps for some NRIs this place is more of a home than their own home;quite likely their sprawling house would have been demolished to build flats.The house we stayed in Bhaskarapuram met such a fate and I knew the pains of the children who were in Canada then. But Rangachari cloth store remains as it were.
I went there after a long gap. It was quite empty; in fact I got token No 3 for safekeeping of my footwear and it was midday. I went inside quite pleased to have the place pretty much to myself. I can tell you that I dont enjoy the mami crowd in this shop.They know every little detail about sarees; they settle down comfortably and ask the salesman for a saree with particular colour and particular border in a specific model. The salesman used to happily oblige them, whereas when I ask for a nine yards saree for athai, and leave it at that, he is perplexed and goes about in a desultory fashion.They are challenged by customers who seek them out with specifics. Sometimes I have seen mamis tell the salesman, that they saw this particular saree being worn by a lady who was next to them in the queue in kapaleeswarar temple last friday. Invariably they get what they want or atleast a promise that they will procure it for them in a few days time.
This time, I had a definite request. Kalyani cotton saree please I told them. The salesman immediately obliged and within a few minutes I selected what I want. I never knew kalyani cotton till S's mother told me and I cashed on it immediately!It looks like pattu saree and has a mix of spun silk in it she told me;good to wear when you go out.
I completed my purchase and then realised that I was the only customer in the entire shop. There was one another mother/daughter combine who were speaking in Hindi and that does not count.They were not sitting down and having sarees strewn all over them; nor were they lovingly feeling the texture and asking for more. They were looking at it as in an exhibition, like window shopping. I then noticed somebody taking some videos. I asked the cashier and he told me they are students from a city college.They asked permission to shoot inside the shop as they had to submit a project by that evening.He was smiling in an indulgent fashion. I did too.
I was coming out of the shop and a bright board greeted me. Annual discount sale from 2nd April. It was 31st March. Sure enough I have been smart to beat the most attractive 'genuine' sale in that shop. I can tell you that it has been a keenly anticipated event and my neighbour at Bhaskarapuram used to purchase their annual requirement in one go during this sale in April.