Maya and her Mama hit the shops

On saturday afternoon I wanted to go to Commercial Street to buy some material for some skirts I'm going to have made (my favourite ten-year-old skirt has well and truly had it so I'm having some copies made). Maya came along with me to experience the hustle and bustle of Commercial Street which is, as the name suggests, a hive of buying, selling and bargaining. You can get anything related to clothes here, from Levi jeans to richly embroidered sarees to heavy gold jewellery. Maya loved looking at all the bright colours and sparkly tops and even obliged numerous shopkeepers by sharing her name and age with them, something she often keeps very secret!

I found some material quite quickly and thought it would be a shame to go home so quickly after we'd come all this way so we browsed up and down Commercial street as well as the warren of little streets around it. Maya's Mama got a bit carried away and, as well as the material, ended up with bangles, bindi's, toe-rings and sandals! (Or chappals as they're known here - in fact, you can just about see the chappals I went for in the top picture: top row, second from left, with the blue straps!)

The chappal seller was particularly friendly and let Maya try on some sparkly heels (her idea, not mine!). Lots of cheek pinching ensued which normally would have resulted in a good slapping, but Maya was up for it on this occasion and gave him her best beam instead.

We ended our shopping spree with chocolate ice cream and masala tea at a brilliant place called Woody's with whirring wooden fans and people crammed in on high stools gobbling up dosas and sickly sweet puddings. Maya dropped half her ice-cream on the floor which a smart-looking lady promptly put her smart-looking shoe in. However, she didn't notice as she was so intent on ordering so Maya and I thought this was a good moment to sidle quietly away from her....