After a long time, I was walking along the streets of T. Nagar, and saw people bargaining with the vendors along the road. It’s quite common to see such scenes in places like Ranganathan Street where you get the cheapest variety (both in quality and quantity) of pretty much everything. It has become an unwritten rule to bargain when there is a purchase in these petty pavement shops.
That same day, in the evening, I happened to go to a mall with my brother and my mom, where I found everything; right from salt to salwar all in one place. Every item was tagged with its price, which was accompanied by the suffix ‘only’. Hand kerchiefs priced at Rs. 200 ‘only’, mini wallets at Rs. 650 ‘only… And I didn’t find a single person bargaining.
People are willing to settle their bill amounts working out to Rs. 20,000 ‘only’ without bargaining in a mall, but end up bargaining for Rs. 10 or 5 rupees at the roadside. How diverse is our city!
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