Miscellaneous, Delhi

The shop was very up market, everything tastefully displayed, and evidently of high quality. Anyone interested in decor would love it, as all the little things that make a house special could be found here , as well as organic herbs and spices.

What to buy: I had been looking for certain types of compressed perfume and oils, but didn't find the kind I wanted. I did buy something else though at 150 rupes a small bottle.

What to pay: probably more than in a small shop in a less commercail area

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Chandni Chowk is Old Delhi's oldest and most popular area for shopping, trading and eating. It is a huge area, always full of people, with thousands of shops. It is undoubtably the largest wholesale market in Asia. It has various sub-markets within, like the shoe market, clothes market, spices market etc. Prices are comparatively cheaper than usual shops. Atleast half the usual price.
The area lies in the historical Shahjahanabad, between the Red Fort and the Fatehpuri Masjid. It is full of historical buildings and narrow lanes.

What to buy: Authentic Indian food, thousands of varieties of sweets, indian clothes, shoes, books, leather items, electronic goods and so on. There are also several popular restaurants and sweet shops.

What to pay: Half the price in other markets. Atleast much less.

A cottage industry with fixed prices. Sarees, bed covers, readymade garments, paintings, handicrafts, jewellery for sale. Can pay by credit card and change money there.

What to buy: Handicrafts

What to pay: Slightly higher than the street fixed prices.

A good place with excellent choice of frames, both non-branded and famous brands- and service is
Seventeen Arcade, at M-28-B, M-Block Market, G.K. I (Greater Kailsah I). This is a popular shopping market with Indians, and they are used to dealing with people from abroad.
I even have had them post me a couple of pairs to Europe via DHL, once they have the data and measurements on their files.
Complete spectacles with non-branded excellent quality frame cost me about 42 euros last year, whereas the same type for my son, who has a lot of astigmatism and needs maximum thinning, with all the anti-glare and other extras, came to about 78 euros. Progressive glasses in a frameless titanium frame worked out to about 135 euros.
You may contact them by e-mail at,
imran17arcade@yahoo.co.in
or telephone them (they speak excellent english)
00-91-29232457 / 29230017
Service is very quick, especially for standard lenses.

Remember though that different markets in Delhi have different closing days. The M-Block market closes on Tuesdays, so it will be open all day Saturday and Sunday.

Other reputed ones are Lawrence & Mayo in Janpath/ Connaught place, but I haven't been there for a number of years personally.
Hope this helps!

What to pay: 35 euros for a normal myopia lense with anti-reflective coating etc and a good-quality fashionable frame.

Palika bazar and Connaught Place, land here for a fab range of things to buy. Clothes, electronics, mob accessories, shoes, jackets and the stuff

What to pay: Bargain a lot, a lot. If the shopkeeper quotes 200 buy it for 50, thats a bargain!!

We were dragged to see the kashmiri cooperative by our guide. He said it was his duty to show us the handicrafts as part of the tourist policy.
However, there were few things to see except carpets, clothes and pashminas. The things on sale were very good quality and their service was excellent, offering free shipping to home country etc. But it was hard sell all the way. We had to just glance at an item and it was being pushed down our throats. The Pakistani outfits were expensive, though my maid had asked me to get her one. And the pashminas cost several thousand rupees, but were really nice, sigh!

At least thereafter we declined strongly any attempt to coerce us into a shop.

What to buy: In the end we had to give in, and after a hard fight bargaining got a nice rug at a reasonable price. tabs were sewn on it so it could be hung on a wall. Then it was wrapped in sacking and sewn up. We decided to take it with us rather than have it shipped.

A small rug could be got for a couple of thousand rupees, and bargained down even more.
.

What to pay: as much as you like, but bargain fiercely

I thought I will share this with you that there is new blogging site which has shopping experiences and tips and advice. Its at www.shoppingdelhi.com , relatively new site and it will take a while to get speed.

There is also a forum where one can put posts and get answers.

Tucked away next to Odeon Cinema in Connaught Place, is a very interesting toy store called Ram Chander and Sons, which also proclaims proudly that it is India's oldest.
It seems that they started in 1890, albeit that was in another city. The Delhi store has been around since 1934, almost from the time that Connaught Place was built.

What to buy: The store has an eclectic mix of some very interesting toys... many of which are imports though. But if you are looking for something specific for your kids, this is the place to get it from. The proprieter who you will find at the shop counter is an interesting person and very helpful with your querries. If they dont have it in stock, they may be able to order it for you.
They have all kinds of toys- for all ages, multimedia education cd's, and other interesting stuff.
I go there to pick up scale models of aircraft- military and civil. Some die cast and others that are ones that you put together patiently at home- piece by piece.