Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Mom vs Hyderabadi shop owner

Watching Mom haggle with the Hyderabadi sari shop owner over my zardozi sari at Charminar was such an experience in itself. I had instantly fallen in love with the sari, and wanted to buy it to wear at the wedding.

Mom had never bought anything at its quoted price at Charminar, and so, buying the ridiculously expensive sari without a discount would be like taking a step back. So a helpless Dad and I watched the big drama production as Mom tried to convince the unwilling shop owner to give us a discount. It was apparent that both the shop owner and Mom knew the tricks of the trade very well.

Excerpts from the war of words:

Act I

Shop owner - You will never find a material like this anywhere.
Mom - That's what you think. I know all the sari shops in Charminar.
Shop owner - *Silence*
Sayesha's thought bubble - Errr... Mom, I think he's right...
Dad continues to read newspaper and pretend not to be related to us.

Act II

Shop owner - I'm like your younger brother! How can you ask me for a discount?
Mom - If you're like my brother, why don't you give me the sari for free?
Shop owner (thinks for a while) - Errr... younger brothers do not give gifts to elder sisters, isn't it? The sister should be the one giving gifts, right?
Mom - Wrong! Not if the brother is the one with the income. Ever heard of rakhi?
Shop owner - *Silence*
Sayesha's thought bubble - God, mom, not rakhi now!
Dad continues to read newspaper and pretend not to be related to us.

Act III

Mom - Do you realise that if my daughter does not buy this sari, no one ever will?
Shop owner (to me) - Oh my God! Your mother has cursed the sari!!
Sayesha's thought bubble - Gosh, why am I even here??
Dad continues to read newspaper and pretend not to be related to us.

Act IV

Shop owner - Are you Christians?
Mom - No, why?
Shop owner (trying to be cheeky) - Today is Good Friday. I'd have given you the discount if you were Christians!
Mom - God is the same as Allah is the same as Jesus. Give me the discount.
Shop owner - *Silence*
Sayesha's thought bubble - I wish I could disappear...
Dad continues to read newspaper and pretend not to be related to us.

Act V

Shop owner - You are bankers. (He knew Dad.) You have so much money. You don't need a discount.
Mom - The money we "have" is not our own. It's yours. We're just safeguarding it for you. You have so much money that it needs safeguarding. Give me the discount.
Shop owner - *Silence*
Sayesha's thought bubble - Wow. Way to go, Mom.
Dad realises that this is more interesting than the newspaper.
Dad's thought bubble - Wow. She'd make a better banker than me!

Yupp, eventually she got the discount! ;)

Moms rule, don't they?



14 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow! :D that was absolutely unbelievable :D

Sayesha said...

I know!! You had to be there to believe it was happening!

But then, Mom IS unbelievable! :)

Anonymous said...

Fantastic! :)

Makes you wonder what havoc moms would have wrought in the corporate world right ;)

Anonymous said...

You just TOTALLY MADE my day Sayesha!!! :)

Thank youuuuuuu - THAT was truly a(n?) hilarious act! Way to GO Mommmmzz!

Anonymous said...

My mom does that too everytime i go shoppin in Bombay. geez! moms seem to ve a way with Shopkeepers

Anonymous said...

err jus to check...r u like still in India...or are you back already??need to talk to you whn you get back...

Sayesha said...

Angelsera, I am back. But still can't shake Hyderabad outta my system! :)

Anonymous said...

oh ok...tts cool!!!gd I will call you later today...(after the morn hagover has cleared...) ;)

kay said...

hahahahaha! made my day! hope you don't mind if i link you. :)

Sayesha said...

Hi Kay,

No probs, I dun mind if you link me :)

Sayesha

Anonymous said...

a late post... but I needed to put in my two cents worth... Bargaining in Charminar rocks! :P Personally had the experience of bargaining for half the price the shopkeeper quoted for 48 bangles and getting our way finally!! of cors after lotsa dialogue-baazi!!! :D ;) was fun!! *grin*

The Girl Who Sold The World said...

HAHAHAHAHA! Your mom is awesome! This was such a hilarious post. Poor saree guy...had to finally give in. That bro-sis thing was the best!
Guess moms have their way, don't they?

Anonymous said...

This was cool.. Now it gives me a doubt - Are you a Hyderabadi???
I mean, do your parents stay in Hyderabad by any chance???

-Preethi.

Prajna said...

lol... I think I can buy enuf dresses for a lifetime out of all the discounts my mom has got! Mom loves bargaining and dad hates them.. he used to run out of the shop..