Two weeks before my home leave I started doing some shopping. One weekend I was roaming around the Flea Market to find something unusual for my friends or relatives. The market looks something like the image on the left except for the fact that the stalls in this market do not have their name boards while the one which I visited had them. Not that there are not many gifts shops around but I guess this kind of market offers you a very good alternative to find some unusual things under one roof.

While I was roaming around and checking out different stalls, I came across one which had several chains on display. As I approached the stall I noticed that the lady at the stall didn’t seem to be interested in selling them. I had noticed how on approaching other stalls the stall owners had started greeting me. They ask you all sort of questions like, “What are you looking for?”, “How may I help you?” Or at least they don’t forget to mention about the best deals they have for ex: “Buy 3 for five euros only!” Not the way a pitchman does but in a polite manner. And this lady at the stall did not even greet. She was an English lady. I could say this because of her looks. After spending one and a half year on this island I guess anyone can distinguish between a Cypriot, an English and Russian lady just by a glimpse of her. Ahem! I will talk in detail but sometimes later on that topic. Back to our stall, the chains which were on display looked somewhat like the ones in the picture below.

The stalls at this market were big. The name boards of these stalls were almost above 9 feet. This way if you are standing under a stall you won’t be able to read the name of the stall at which you are standing. You will have to move two or three steps backwards to do that. After few minutes of checking out other stuff and buying few things it was time to go home. As I turned, I saw the stall with chains and the lady. This time I could read its name. It read “Bra Straps”. At that point I was like “Ohhhh myyy goddd!!! ” I was very embarrassed for a minute but then started laughing hysterically after recollecting the entire incidence. Now, how the hell am I supposed to know what those chains, actually, were? Gifting them to my friends, sister or worst case mother would have been even more embarrassing. This would be difficult to understand for people who are not from India. Actually, I have never seen anyone using bra straps in my family. Not even anyone in my locality. We just see them on television. It is an accessory which girls from my place might have taken notice of but not me! Only after reading the name of the stall did the actual purpose of the chains dawned on me. Thank God I did not buy one of them otherwise it would have really been an ‘Unusual Gift!’