Saturday, May 23, 2009

Mall'd from all sides

There seems to be steady addition to the number of shopping malls around the place I live. With so many of them, Hyderabadis are not far behind their counterparts in other metros. I needed new batteries for my watch so visited Titan in Amrutha Mall.

Amrutha Mall...yes, this used to one of those 'original' malls in the busy Somajiguda Circle...with Midways, Minerva, etc. After ages I visited this place, also wanted to see if those old shops are still there like Pallavi and some others. After the widened road and the flyover this hardly looks like a shopping mall, not to mention that horrible stench at the dark and dingy cellar parking. In fact I didn't know such a parking existed coz earlier we would happily park all around this place. I was disappointed to see that now Pallavi sells only sarees and no dresses.

With so many malls around my place I think very soon we are going to be mall'd from all sides, all within a distance of 2 - 3 kilometers. Though I'm not a regular at malls coz I don't ever do window shopping or even find time for it.I shop only when I need something...most of the times I end up in desperate buys. GVK One has a very spacious Shoppers Stop with good collection of trendy ethnic wear....mostly tops with a poor collection of bottoms (but nothing to beat that real original shoppers stop dresses that were there in early years of this brand, can't believe that I still wear a dress, bought from their Bangalore outlet , sometime in 2000), hope that the proposed Fabindia outlet here will have more variety. City Center appeals more for its Crossword and Sahib Sindh Sultan, Lumbini has a good Food Bazaar, Basil there is just ok, what with the dearth of veg-restaurants in Hyd. Central of course has lots of stuff, but always crowded; I really enjoyed watching movies at PVR. Closer home is Big Bazaar that has Rajdhani for that authentic desi khana served in huge thalis. Cinemax is more a multiplex on the lines of Prasads. Haven't been to Ashoka mall at the intersection of Road No 12, the Music World there is quite tempting. Maheshwari group is coming up with a mall at Nagarjuna Circle. And I heard there'll be at least too more on Road No.3. I really don't understand how the retail outlets sustain their business with presence in all the malls at the same time...the same brands everywhere.

Malls don't spare me at my workplace too:) There's Inorbit Mall coming up literally next to my office. Doesn't it look like being mall'd from all sides!

2 comments:

Videhi said...

i like the term..Mall'd

Sheetal said...

Nice to get an update on our neighborhood. Just realized how much I miss dear ol' Hyderabad. I'm sure it's not how I left it!