A few hours in the South Delhi Shopping Mall: A Glimpse of Life
A few hours in the Mall: A Glimpse of Life
Recently on a Sunday I decided to checkout one of the newly opened high end malls in South Delhi. The weather had a feel as if the winter is knocking at the doors, wanting to come in.
When I entered the mall it was around 11:30 am. As per my information, shops open around 10:30 – 11:00 am. But the place was already quite filled with visitors of all ages, cultures, backgrounds and sizes.
Let me share some of the observations during my strolling on the different floors and sections of the posh mall for about 3 hours.
The Common Factor
Almost everyone was conscious that he or she is at a special place and was ‘self conscious’ in his / her unique way. While the young ladies from the upper strata of the society (and let me respectfully include aunties in their 50s also) had slipped into one of their best and latest dresses.
Some of the younger men seemed to be utilizing this opportunity appropriately to show off their well sculpted bodies in tight jeans and figure hugging T-shirts.
There were also parents of young teenagers who were conscious of their limited budget – insufficient to meet the demands of their child in this mall.
Now let us proceed to understand some specific varieties in this diversity.
Young Lady Shopper
The Good Looking and Confident Types
A right combination of self care, money and blessed DNA made certain set of people very attractive to look at. With glowing skin and overall good persona, perhaps they looked much younger than their real age.
Normally alone, such individuals carried themselves very elegantly and with a confident gait.
Also they were seen more at Apparels, Jewelry, Cosmetics counters or entering the spa.
Malls in New Delhi
The Cool Dudes
The reverse was also true. Some guys looked as if they had jumped out of their bed, got into the car, driving straight to the mall. Disheveled hair, crumpled clothes sticking into the splits, they were dragging their rubber slippers on the floor instead of walking. Skipping the necessary visit to bathroom they badly needed a good bath and a shampoo.
I found out that most of them would have brunch here, watch a movie and again enjoy a feast in the food court.
Frequency of Mall Visit
How often you go to the shopping mall
The Newly Married
There were quite a few of honeymooners or recently married types too. They started arriving 12:30 pm onward. From their looks, I could guess two reasons for their late entry.
One, they seemed to be from neighboring towns – at least 30 to 60 kms away. Second, both husbands and wives had first been to beauty parlors, to get their looks ‘fixed’. So I presume that their day must have started early and it would have been a planned event.
I also noticed that in this category the men were invariably shorter and smaller than their wives. I was wondering – is it an optical illusion or a latest reality?
The Bored Types
The Bored Looks Types
There were some ladies from middle / upper middle class, who constantly wore only one expression on their faces – bored!
These ladies in their early 30s, twisted their lips, had a frown on the forehead, squeezed their eyes and twirled their nose in a particular direction at every shop and at every window display. Did you ever wonder how do they do so many things at the same time?
Mostly alone or in a pair, they were trying to tell the world, “I have seen it before, I have already bought it, I have had it so long ago and there is nothing new, how boring”.
Interestingly, this type stayed the longest in the shopping mall and visited almost every nook and corner but purchased nothing. Such kinds were mostly at Furniture, Home Furnishing and Garments stores.
The Coffee Shops
The Business Executives
Each coffee shop had a small number of young executives (both sexes) who were intently looking into the screens of their laptops, holding coffee cup in one hand and the other hand being used to press the latest phablet to the ear.
Interestingly, I found that no one using the i-pad - is it the latest trend?
Luxury Shopping Mall & Fancy Restaurant in New Delhi, India
Purpose of visiting a Mall
Your main idea of going to a mall is
To Sum Up
It was an engrossing experience to subtly observe a few interesting personality types and their behaviors. As a psychologist, to study such a variety of individual personalities - all under one roof was a rare experience.
May be, I will observe and learn more about human behavior, latest fashion trends and merchandise on display during my next visit.
Happy Shopping !!