Carol Buys a Suit

When we tour a country, we are not there solely to view the sights, go to museums and participate in activities developed exclusively for tourists. The gold ring on our merry-go-round is what we sometimes refer to as a cultural exchange, or, as they called in Peace Corps, a "cross-cultural experience." They are harder to find than you would think. Especially in Asia, we are always recognized as tourists; usually our contacts with the local people are limited to guides, touts and shop keepers. Most of us also have this protective wall around us to protect us from getting ripped off by touts and other helpful locals whose only intent is to separate us from our money. Our first full day in India became special because we chose to let our guard down and trust a shopkeeper to deal with us honestly. I think we have our guide to thank for that.

Carol wanted to buy some Indian style clothes. Bev, Norma and Kathleen also wanted to shop. Surdh guided us to a an Indian clothing store for a truly different type of shopping experience. We entered this narrow shop just as a family of apparently middle class Indian ladies were leaving. This was fortunate because the six of us pretty much filled the shop. Salesmen sat on a raised stage in front of a row of chairs where their customers would sit while they deftly unfurled yards of pre-matched, color coordinated material for our approval.

At this stage, no one in the store spoke English. Surdh tried his best to translate but his English was limited to what he needed to keep tourists from getting lost. And we had no idea if this was a place to bargain or if the prices were set. But we were shopping the way an Indian lady would. The salesman first determined that Carol wanted a "suit" rather than a sari. He began to unfurl several prepackaged color-coordinated pieces of material. Each package contained three pieces of material - one for the tunic, one for the trousers and the third for the veil or shawl. The materials were not identical but did complement each other. There might be a red swatch with green trim along with a green swatch with red trim, for example. Carol decided quickly, actually settling for the first example she was shown. I decided this was not a place to bargain and we accepted their offer of the equivalent of $45, with "stitching," which is what they call custom tailoring.

Our new friend Pramod Sawhiney

I went to the cash register to pay while Carol got measured. This is where I met Pramod Sawhiney and had my cultural moment. Pramod spoke excellent English, which is why he arrived at the store. He might have been the owner or manager; maybe he was just someone they recruited to help out with the foreigners but he spoke with some authority. First we settled to bargaining conundrum. I had already agreed on the price but I asked Pramod about it; he said his shop offers a good price with a reasonable mark-up. Then he went on to decry the shopkeepers who base their price on what they think the individual customer would pay. He told me he wouldn't buy from someone who doubled or tripled the price he would ultimately accept and Pramod refused to deal with these people. Kind of like our opinion and not at all in line with what we were told about the shopping culture in India.

But Pramod couldn't wait to talk politics. This was two days after the American midterm elections and he could not understand how Americans rejected Obama so quickly. "Are Americans really that impatient?" he asked. I had to agree that we really are that impatient and commented that we also have very short memories.

Pramod went on to enumerate some differences he had noted between Americans and Indians. Americans obey laws; Indians view laws as something to be circumvented. Indians litter. I told him that Americans used to litter also and it took a decade of indoctrination in the 50s and 60s to break this habit.

Anyway, Carol's suit was promised to be delivered to our hotel after 4:00 the following afternoon. As promised, it arrived just in time for Carol to wear it to our Diwali celebration. Here she is, posing with Mary Kay who also bought a suit in a separate Shopping trip at a different store.