Friday – 18-June, 10pm

So this afternoon I had to get away… After all, I had been in town more than 48hrs and not even been near Commercial Street. I hitched an auto-rickshaw. It’s not my first solo ride (that was last trip), but this one was interesting in a different way. I’ve always felt (particularly travelling internationally, where currency values are wildly different than in the States) that cash speaks and will get you out of a bind. Not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but rickshaw drivers can be awfully picky – they can be hard to flag down, and once flagged still often deny the trip because they don’t like the end-location or the distance. My Shopping Diva buddy tells me stories of her and friends who have taken a half-hour or more just to get a ride.

So – I got my first driver’s attention, asked him to take me to Comm Street, and he refused (“too far”). After 2-3 minutes of not getting another driver to pull over, I walked back to my original rickshaw (yes, he was still sitting there patiently looking for the perfect-for-him driving request) and showed him a 100-rupee bill. Cash is king, ladies and gentlemen – 15 minutes later my feet were firmly on hallowed shopping ground! What’d it cost me? $2. Every day, I learn a new lesson.

So my hour or so on Comm Street was fun. I picked out some great fabric and a jacket (known here as a waist coat) is being stitched for me. I did some bangle shopping, cleaned out the one-gram store, had some gulab jamons, and bought a couple of leather coats before heading back. Yes – you read that right… two leather coats. Both are really nice soft black leather – one is shorter and more fitted (great for wearing out over jeans and the other is more of a coat-coat (quilted lining, ¾ car coat length, will be great for milder winter days). So guess what they cost? $60 each! And the guys at the office complained… can you believe that? They boasted they could have gotten them for half that, but my Shopping Diva assures me that the leather wouldn’t have been as nice… 🙂

Oh, and speaking of bling– the guys got pix of my outstanding one-gram collection… including my newest accessory. My best bud gave me a gorgeous pocket watch for my 40th birthday last month and I have fretted about what kind of chain to wear it on. I have been wearing it here in Bangalore on a ribbon and the talk around the office has been what kind of medal I am wearing. So the ribbon has to go! Well, the pocket watch is made from a rose gold – so to put it on a standard gold chain just doesn’t look quite right (the yellow gold against the pinkish gold). But there’s a chain used here with alternative black and gold beads – and I thought this chain would be the perfect way to display my beloved pocket watch – because the black beads would ‘tone down’ the yellow in the gold. So this chain is called a mangal sutra. In the Christian religion we wear wedding bands on our left ring finger to signify the commitment of marriage. The equivalent Hindu practice is the wearing by ladies of the mangal sutra. No sooner had I arrived back to the office from Comm Street, than one of my managers walks in and says sarcastically: Oh, did you get married on your lunch hour?! Funny funny man. (Oh, and I told him I have always been married – to my work!) Anyway – it serves my purpose and holds my beloved pocket watch perfectly. And it certainly strikes some interesting discussions… 🙂