Recently a young niece of mine, on a visit to London, was approached by a friend of hers for a favour. Handing her some sterling, he asked whether she could buy his mother a gift on his behalf and take it back to India. He had no idea of what to get. Besides, he did not have the time to go looking for something. Neither did my niece, but knowing that his mother was very partial to perfume, my niece decided to buy her a bottle of Issey Miyake at the duty-free shop at Heathrow on her way back home. As it happened the traffic to the airport was inordinately heavy, and by the time she had got through immigration, her flight was boarding, and there was no time to shop. However she was not unduly worried. Once back home, she bought the perfume locally for virtually the same price, put it into an English carrier bag in which something else had come and handed the present over. The mother, not surprisingly, was delighted that her son had sent her something all the way from London!

I tell this story to illustrate a point. There was a time, not so long ago, when half the fun (or pain!) of going abroad, and especially to the West, was finding presents for friends and relatives back home. There was a plethora of things to choose from, and it did not take too much effort to find something suitable for everyone. You came back laden with suitcases bursting at the seams, stuffed with goodies that you knew would be appreciated because they were not to be had here.

But those days are well nigh over. With globalisation having arrived, there is virtually nothing that you want in England or America that cannot be had here, for more or less the same cost, if not more cheaply. For years, whenever we travelled to England or the States, we would carry two well-worn old bags that we would load with cheeses and other exotic edibles to bring back. Now the grocery down the road stocks almost everything that you may want and more. Nor is it very different in reverse. Shopping for presents to take abroad is as difficult as it is to bring gifts back. Foodwise, Indian shops in England and America stock everything that you would buy here (other than such items as mishti doi!) and ironically, the quality is better. Likewise, with clothes and linen. Except for one major difference. The cost of what we produce here is a fraction of the price tag there.

The truth is that where shopping is concerned, whether for presents or for oneself, the magic has worn off. Rather as with the disappearance of seasons in the fruit and vegetable markets, there is a distressing sameness in what is available which has ensured that shopping, window or otherwise, is no longer one of the attractions of going abroad.