The Mall Experience

So far I have been avoiding anything and everything Western while in India, and do as I assumed the Indians do. Unfortunately, most of the Indians do as the Westerners do. It has been almost impossible to find any market-like shopping, instead we go to big department stores filled with three floors of neatly stacked tops. Today I grudgingly stepped foot inside a mall-in-progress. The parts which were finished reminded me of shopping in Cherry Creek, except no one was comfortable with the escalators. They stepped one foot onto the escalator with one firmly planted on the unmoving floor until their legs were substantially spread before completely transferring to the moving staircase. I figure it was many peoples' first or second time even seeing one, and was humorous for me to watch. It is becoming Diwali (pron. deevalee) season, a festival of lights in the first week in November, and so pretty much all of India is out shopping because everyone is supposed to get at least one new clothing item for this festival; there was hardly room to walk. The thing that bothered me most about the mall was all the staring. Over the past two months I have gotten fairly used to people staring at the tall, white American with blonde hair and blue eyes, seeing as it happens on an hourly basis. But due to the density of people in the shops it felt like I had a big neon sign pointing at me as well. It's unnerving  and suffocating to be that noticed by the surrounding populace. One of the salesmen actually asked my friend who I was with if he could have my bracelet or ring as a memento of meeting a foreigner. Just a few seconds later an older couple, very short and plump I might add, came up to me and my friend and spoke a language that neither of us understood. They stared and whispered to each other about two feet away from me. I took that as my cue to leave and I am not soon planning my return.