Shopping for saris and it’s therapeutic value
There are many suggestions given
to drive out mental depression, such as
seeing a comedy movie or scenes in the television, reading comics,
joining a friend’s group for some activity or getting out of the home or
listening to music etc., But of late shopping is suggested as an activity with
higher therapeutic value. Even window shopping is considered as helping to
fight depression. We indulge in shopping for acquiring household items,
dresses, jewelry, accessories, furniture, latest gadgets, art pieces etc. But as
far as women are concerned ,shopping for personal wardrobe is considered as an
activity which would instantly drive out mental depression. I have heard many
women supporting this idea. It is highly true in the case of Indian women
because in no other country the weavers, the designers, the printers of
handloom and mill made clothes are glorifying women with such variety of
dresses through their creations. All the states in India specialise in a particular
type of women dresses especially in weaving of the saris.
The minute a woman decides to buy
a sari to get out of depression, she would be indulging in an urgent plan that
includes allotment of budget for the purchase, the locality to visit, the shops
to enter and a rough idea of the material and color of the of the sari, so that
there should not be a repetition of any sari which they already have or their friends and relatives have,
because women get immense satisfaction in wearing exclusive saris which no
other women should be seen wearing. (Vanity, thy name is woman)
Then, after entering the shop
they hop from counter to counter to see all the available variety of saris even
if they are remotely connected to their budget. The excuse for this behavior is
to get knowledge regarding the latest designs and prices so that they can use
that knowledge during the next available opportunity. This stage in the shopping
has dramatic effect on their mental condition. The mind is a so refreshed after
seeing such variety of saris decorated with gold and silver colour zari , beads , stone work , hand woven borders
with breath taking designs with vegetable dyes, machine prints and hand woven
saris with vast types of color combinations arrived from north, south, east and
west of India
Most of the women have the
tendency to stop and look at the saris unfolded by the sales men for others,
even after selection their saris for comparison sake. This comparison attitude
continues until the bill is settled
since, even at that stage saris selected
by others are casualty surveyed to check whether their saris remain exclusive still. Women prefer
to go to boutiques in spite of
untouchable prices for the sake of
selecting an unique, latest ,and beautiful saris because, they do not like to possess a
sari 100 other women would be wearing .They hate to buy any sari in their opinion is “too common” in design and colour combination . It is true
that only those women who have husbands who do not micro manage the family expenses
and only those working women with
financial independence can resort to
sari shopping to tackle mental depression . Others resort to window shopping because
even that activity helps in relaxing the mind through visual
effects of a huge sari collection and its beautiful display.
I have a friend who has one full
size steel cupboard filled with “depression saris” as she calls them. I noticed
that it was very unique and breadth taking collection. I was wondering whether she would be
getting into fresh bout of depression if she doesn’t get chances to display
them for long time . Many women would
agree that sari shopping indeed has higher therapeutic value because , all the
steps involved in it are interesting and relaxing to the affected mind. Men do not understand the complexities
and technicalities involved in sari selection. Those men who accompany women
for sari shopping wonder at the time consumed in selection and the pity the
sales men who untiringly unfold hundreds of saris for each woman customer in
their effort to guess the particular taste of a customer. I often wonder why
do men accompany women to sari shops
because women like to have total freedom in sari selection. If they are forced
to select sari to please their husbands
who give a suggestion in selection , they are sure to exchange it the next day
under some pretext. Moreover, sari shopping is therapeutic only when it is done
with leisure and patience and it is
better husbands stay way from it because
, quite often they are the source of
mental depression of their wives.
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