Most Indians can afford to buy new clothes only once a year, so they time it for important festivals like Diwali (Deepavali) or Pongal (practised in Tamil Nadu state) or for weddings in the family. I dislike going shopping during the crowded festival season and I am not a fashion person, so my clothes purchase happens once in few years only. To satisfy my mother’s desire for me to wear new clothes for Deepavali every year, I keep aside a set from previous years’ purchases. For this years’ Diwali, to replenish my stash I went shopping today.
Having been born and brought up in T.Nagar area in Chennai, I know the best time (like a happy hour) to do shopping, when you will encounter little to no crowd and parking will be a breeze. It is the first two hours after the shops are open, and before lunchtime. During the pandemic, it will hopefully be a safer time as well. If it is Tuesday it will be an advantage to avoid crowds, as it is considered not the best day to buy anything new for astrological reasons.
Today, I went to a men’s clothing shop in the Pondy Bazaar area in the morning and got my shopping for Diwali completed in less than thirty minutes. See how empty the buzzing shopping area in #Chennai is at 10 AM on a Saturday. Pre-Pandemic, Chennai Corporation under the Government of India’s smart city scheme had completely renovated this popular shopping district in Chennai, that’s why you see the wide footpaths and the pedestrian plaza in the photos below.
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It is very rare to see a scene like this in T-Nagar, you can only see these sights during midnight. Hope they control the diwali crowd :)