Shopping (and Eating) in Delhi, But First........

Excitement on campus today!  Yes, real live Bollywood stars dropped by to promote their new movie, Student of the Year, that opens in cinemas this Friday.

The handsome and beautiful young stars, Siddharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt, danced and entertained their cheering fans.

Having read the story line, I am sure I could understand the movie even if it is in Hindi.

Students were literally hanging out the windows to get a glimpse of their idols.  A couple of old crows were leaning on the fence thinking, "Aah, to be young again!"

So, back to Delhi and shopping.  We barely scratched the surface of shopping in Delhi but what a fun experience.

We started at Janpath market where you can find vendors selling everything imaginable.

You definitely have to bargain--although I wonder if it is necessary to counter an already low asking price of 300 rupees with an offer of 200 rupees.  Wages and salaries are so low for most people here I am beginning to feel that foreigners should pay more for goods and services!

In the end, the vendors usually accept whatever you offer to pay.

They are really "in your face," telling you what you should buy.

I was looking at a particular kurta top but wanted it in a different size--although the vendor said the one he had was the right size.  Finally, he went back to see if he had another.  He came out with another one and said it was my size.  Looked about the same to me so I checked the label.  Funny, but it had been cut off.

About then I decided I could play this game, too.

Dilmeet and I spent about three hours having a great time shopping.  George waited patiently!

What a contrast when, later in the evening, we went to the huge, modern Select Citywalk Mall.  There are actually three adjoining malls.

This was not a place to look for bargains!  No negotiating prices here.  However, by Canadian standards, prices were fairly reasonable.

Lots of high end shops, many that we see in North America, and a good selection of merchandise.

We just had to try out the Hard Rock Cafe New Delhi at dinner time--9:00 pm--respectable by Indian standards.

Oh, Dilmeet!  This woman could rule the world from her mobile.

Texting was about the only way to communicate. The music was so LOUD!  They were playing songs like YMCA.

The next evening, we were at another big but more modest mall, City Square.

Shopping was not the purpose here, though.

We wanted to try out the Metro--like Vancouver's skytrain on steroids!  We got on, went two stops and turned around to return to our starting point.

Interesting that Bombardier has built/is building cars for this Metro.

City Square Mall has several floors of great shops--all closed by the time we arrived.

That was fine because the next item on our agenda was dinner.

This time, the restaurant that Dilmeet wanted us to enjoy was called Punjabi by Nature.  And enjoy we did!

After a meal of Punjabi specialties, George, as usual, had room for dessert!

And there is much, much more of Delhi to experience.  It is busy and traffic is brutal--but Harbans and the GPS managed to get us around.