I visited a new mall today -- the DLF Emporio. I had two stops to make, the first one at Burberry and the second at Louis Vuitton. I have to admit I have never felt the urge to visit this particular mall before, therefore it is no surprise that this was my first trip to a whole new world of branding and designer labels. I was rather intimidated upon entering the mall in the first place, and the prices in the showrooms made me even more nervous. My task today was to find out prices for trench coats and bags. While the coats were priced at Rs. 65,500/- and above, the bags were starting from Rs. 40,000/-. While waiting for the customer assistant to address my query, a lady not particularly posh to look at, however, carrying a LV bag casually picked up a bag and placed it at the counter behind me. It was for two lakhs. I do not know if she was trying hard to play the relaxed, laid-back customer but she seemed unappalled. I kept staring at that exact bag for a good ten minutes. What could possibly be worth two lakhs in it?? Then I remembered the Naomi Klein study on brands. I may have mentioned this previously too. If not, she talks about how more than the quality of purchase, more and more people are now concerned with the brand or the label. Hence, the focus is on branding more than ever before.
Once I was out of the mall, I crossed to the other side of the road. I think New Delhi is one of the very few places in the world where you can see such incongruity less than a few metres apart. In campus, the prices have been kept low keeping in mind that money would be shelled out from a student's pocket. We have all amenities i.e. a cobbler, tailor, paratha wala, optician, beauty parlour, grocery shop etc. Apart from covering your basic necessities, you can even start your own revolution from one of the many hostels and end at the popular Ganga dhaba. And just a stone's throw away is the Emporio in all its glory. Just the smell of the air upon entering the mall made me want to puke in credit cards or gold coins. I don't think I would like to go back there again.
After dinner outside, I am back in my hostel. Seventy percent of the girls have gone home for the winter holidays. Except for the occassional thumping of the dustbins against the floor when the dogs come a hunting for leftovers, the corridors are silent. The temperature has gone down suddenly so warming myself under my duvet is just what heaven is made up of right now. And now that I am comfortable, I am thinking just which one of the two worlds is reality? The former where you are never caught in a dull moment, with your hair always in place and your clothes well ironed? Or is reality present in the air of this campus where you live at dirt cheap prices and still fight for further subsidy? It is hard to believe that these two worlds exist side by side on an everyday basis.
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