Malls of Mumbai!!!
I remember very distinctly once we had a quiz on Mumbai in our college and there was a question asked, “Which was the first Mall of Mumbai?” Well, I was participating in the quiz, so I was supposed to answer that. I don’t recollect what I answered (I guess I said Crossroads) and many people answered with the names of different malls, but all of them were wrong. The quizmaster said the correct answer is ‘Indraprastha’ at Borivli-West. We were all shocked and thinking, “Dude, it’s a shopping center… Not a mall…” The quizmaster reiterated that it was the first mall of Mumbai.
Well I have been staying in Borivali and I have been going to ‘Indrapastha’ since my school days in the 90’s. But I never thought of that to be the first mall. Just recently I had a discussion with a friend regarding the new upcoming malls in all locales of Mumbai and we got nostalgic about malls and how we used to go there to hangout and do nothing. Here again the discussion about first mall came up. I told him that I felt its Crossroads but I know for sure that it is ‘Indrapastha’. He started laughing at this and we both actually googled for the correct answer. Well google didn’t mention anything about ‘Indrapastha’ but we came to know that Crossroads is the first world-class shopping mall in India. Well we both stopped arguing and continued the nostalgia feeling about malls.
Malls have evolved a lot in Mumbai now. When the trend had just started there was handful of malls in and around Mumbai. For starters, we had Citimall at Andheri, Infiniti at Andheri, Phoenix Mills at Parel, Big Bazaar (counted to be as a mall ;-)) at Parel, Inorbit at Malad, Nirmal Lifestyle and R-Mall at Mulund and yes the Crossroads at Tardeo. Earlier a mall used to comprise of lots of Branded Clothes and Accessory stores like Nike, Adidas etc., some branded watch showrooms, a food joint and some very famous fast food joints and yes above all, 1 McDonalds Outlet. Now the malls have changed, not by much but up to a certain extent. Small shop owners have made their presence felt in the malls. We have gaming zones and game parlors, we have a bowling alley, we have Wi-Fi zones too, and we have multiplexes in it also.
I remember malls being a place for the youngsters to go visit. Young couples from colleges used to bunk their classes and go visit malls to hangout. Students used to go in groups after exams or after classes to relax or chill out in malls, I have seen some guys proposing girls in the so called romantic atmosphere of the malls, I have also seen young college guys (at that time me included) go check out some hot babes in the malls as these malls were at prime locations and there used to be bunch of hot/cute looking girls who used to visit the malls often. The guys used to be like, “chal mall chalte hain maal dekhne…” Well now it sounds pathetic and creepy, but in early 2000’s this was one of the best possible timepass for any guy. The malls used to be crowded on weekends as families used to bring their kids to show them the mall (kinda like a tourist spot), people used to sneakily find some couples in the cozy corners of the malls and gossip about it all day, colleges were half empty and malls were hall full.
Things have changed now. Malls have become a family place now. With hypermarkets and more stores coming up, families prefer shopping from malls. They find it hygienic, better value for products and very upper class to shop from malls. Malls have a Big Bazaar inside them to attract families. Any mall in Mumbai today bring along the novelty factor of a shopping mall (westernized term), turned out be the cause of its instant success. Hundreds of people from every corner of the city come to experience shopping, entertainment and food in an international ambience every day, in what is being termed as ‘shoppertainment experience’. Today any mall is just one amongst the dozens of new malls mushroomed in every nook and corner of the city. People have learnt a lot from TV where they see some posh malls in USA, Europe or Dubai and they feel like even they should try shopping in malls here. Shopping in malls has become a status symbol in Mumbai today. I have actually seen the Bhaajiwala Bhaiyaas selling fruits and vegetables in places like Big Bazaar. Newly wed or the young married couples especially the IT professionals will visit the malls every weekend to stock up their homes for the week, go to the multiplex and catch a movie, go to the food court and get you dinner done. They will be going to the malls in shorts just like the westerners and shop the lot. The parking lots of these malls will be full and the valet will be looking for alternate parking arrangements on weekend evenings. Malls are no longer a place for young college going couples to hang out because they are scared that some of their close or distant relative might catch them there.
The malls have added to the shopping experience for any middle class Mumbaikar today as we can find from vegetables to furniture under 1 roof. Just go to a mall, buy your stuff or place the order for the stuff you want and right under one roof all your necessities for your home are fulfilled. This is like a dream come true for any lazy person like me. But on the other hand, this concept is killing into the business done by the local roadside vendor or the old uncle who is running his shop since past 20 years. I feel for them and very often when I just go to talk to one of my old shopkeepers, he starts telling me about how people say that his shop is unhygienic and how they find better deals at the malls. Well I would like to say everything has its pros and its cons, we just have to live with it.
I feel malls are an amazing concept and have changed Mumbai a lot especially in the shopping part. There has been a spiraling growth in the number of shopping malls in India from none in 2000 to nearly 100 within five years; most of the malls are located at Mumbai and then Delhi. The growth was fuelled by rising incomes, greater availability of credit and busier lifestyles. Present day Mumbai has approximately 129 Shopping Malls with every station having atleast 2-3 malls surrounding it. Malls acquire a larger area than the actual mall building. There is a parking lot, a giant screen, a football and cricket playing field (smaller ones) within the vicinity of the mall.
Business has boomed and shoppers are not reducing. I am just wondering that in 5-8 years malls have evolved like crazy, so what do they plan in next few years??? Do they plan to fly a jet or a plane from the malls soon??? We just need to wait and watch for that to happen…