FASHION STREET

last sunday i went to metroadlabs to watch 'the break-up'.i parked my car at the bombay gymkhana and walked the short distance to metro cinema.i was forewarned of the shortage of parking space at metro and i thought this would be the best bet.a safe parking place,a muchneeded walk and a quick look-in at the shops which extend from the vsnl trafficsignal all the way to metro cinema.they are about 200 of them all linearly arranged of the same size and selling good quality,infashion and cheap. shorts,t-shirts,kurtas,knock-offs et al. the place is called 'fashion street' and is a very popular shopping centre with locals as well as tourists. located between azad maidan and cross maidan, the line of shops also known as FS also sell shoes,handbags and jewellery.

for students looking for hip styles at low prices FS is a great attraction.the shops sell imitations of branded products like DKNY,Tommy Hilfliger,Gucci etc . the market is always flooded with export surpluses or export seconds which sell at a fraction of the orignal price .when you shop here you must keep sufficient time for this experience.you can bargain heavily and buy good stuff at really very low prices.i had no plans to buy any t-shirts or kurtas. and i didn't have much time at my disposal either. an open stall where a youngster from UP named paramanad was writing names on rice grains caught my attention i asked him how many letters he could write in one grain of rice, pat came his reply. 120 letters. i got our names written on rice grains and paramanand nicely placed them in a thin plastic bottle with a key chain. two of these for rs15 each.

being ganapati season, the stallowners had put up a sarvajanic ganesh pandal too, which was attracting a large number of shoppers.

mumbai was once the textile capital of the world.also the first cotton exchange was setup in the then bombay.and it was a leading exporter of cotton to uk and europe.mumbai has a chequered history of textile s production and marketing.

FS is a place worth visiting.even if you do not buy anything,the experience of walking on the FS pavement with a riot of colours around you ,sugarcane juice and bhelpuri vendors jostling to catch your attention and the occasional visit of a bollywood celebrity is an experience that one would loathe to miss.

happy bargaining and happy shopping! happy ganapathi!