Day 97-Fine Foods, Fresh Fruits

Fine Foods, Fresh Fruits

(Also the last instalment of my "Bazaar" scene for this year)

This last stall had been 90% done for the longest time, shortly after I returned from my Bangkok trip in August with the fruits, in fact. Even now with the cats, it is a work in progress.

I have decided this shall be a family store run by 2 relatives,
one selling fresh fruits and vegetables

and the other fine foods, like the best beans, lentils and rice you can find

Unlike their more popular neighbours, Rolla and Ro and Tallulah, the patronage at this stall is of a different breed, not so illustrious but no less welcomed.

This is a family who love cats and pedigree cats, mind you. Alas, the family's love for the feline has outweighed their business cents (sic). Clear to all but themselves, there is a severe lack of paying customers at this stall and here is a close up of why:

Now, will you even walk into a stall where the signage are cats prowling and sniffing your produce, right at the shopfront?

So what if you provide extra services like grinding and pounding seeds into powder if you allow Bengal fur to be in the mixture .

Who cares if you own the loveliest pair of Persians in love

when your tom cats don't behave?

And when you finally have a customer, will she be more interested in your cat spilling the beans than the beans themselves?

There is no wonder why it is another bad day at the stall

when your fruits are bruised by your kitty stuck in a basket

or your pet is the one sampling the cut kiwis instead of a customer.

OR maybe we are getting it all wrong.

Maybe when you are a cat lover, like our Family

you play, live and work how you like

"like owner, like cat," they say,

Carefree, CareLess and Cashless.

I have been having trouble naming the store until now. I think I shall call it "Feline Family Fine Foods & Fresh Fruits" unless someone else has a better idea. Helene perhaps?

Postscript: In planning my trip to India early this year, I bought a guidebook called "Nelle's Guide, Northern India" (1990 1st Edition) for S$2. It turned out to be a gem not for its tour tips which are almost 2 decades too old, but for this beautifully written extract on Chandni Chowk and my inspiration for my Bazaar:

Chandni Chowk pierces into the very heart of Delhi. This largest trading center in north India was once a quiet road , shaded by Banyans, with a canal flowing along the entire length . Jahaara, Shah Jahan's daughter, had a square built on this road and in its center a pool fed by the canal. On a clear night the water reflected the light of the moon: so it came to be known as Chandni Chowk, the moonlit square. The nobility built mansions here, shops sprang up along the street, and Chandni Chowk became the most fashionable place in the empire. Emma Roberts , an Englishwoman, recorded in her diary that the streets often echoed with the shrill roar of many caged cheetahs being hawked and hooded hunting leopards. The title of great men were shouted by their followers. There were Persian cats and greyhounds for sale while the trumpeting of elephants mingled with the sounds of cartwheels and itinerant musicians....

Apart from my palace, this Bazaar is the other dream scene I really want to create. But as you can see, the display for each stall is so big that I fear I may not be able to execute this without losing some furniture, like a dining room table. I have built the 3 stalls inside out, interior and no exterior, and each stall already measures at least 32" long and 19" wide. I hope to build the facade of the Bazaar and a street scene with howdahs, roaring cheetahs . There's also Chandni Chowk's legendary perfume store and of course, the ubiquitous tea shop.

This Saturday, there will be a party for 20 kids at my house. It's Tasha's 9th birthday and I will have to shift the "Bazaar" away from the dining table and to the guest room. Good luck to me!