Wednesday, January 07, 2009

NRI Shaani Shurunai

I don't know what you call it but we call it Shaani Shurunai also called as Fab India. Supported and promoted mostly by plus sizes like yours truly, Fab India's clothes have looked the same for decades now.

After the first wash, Fab India clothes lose colour, shrink in size and become veedu todaikkara tunis. Believe it or not, everytime I wear a Fab India kurta after its first wash, I get one "nammaku ivvalavu daaridiriyama?" look from my kanavan who does one poatta potti with me to snatch it to use it as his car-cleaning cloth - Avlo soft-a look-oda irukkam!

When Deepz had come down two years ago, we went shopping and landed at Fab India and came out of the store in eggjactly five minutes without buying a single thing 'coz we had seen the same stuff a decade ago when we were in college (naanga romba youth-u ppa!).

Ofcourse, please not to be forgetting Fab India's snooty Dilli attitude - They cater and nakkify select people like the Kothari road Seth-u aanties, Besant Nagar-Chetpet mallus, Bandra -Malabar Hill ladies and the Madras (R.A.Puram, Adyar type) maamis who wear crisp cotton saree and say "En payyan Bay area la irukkan, unga ponnu enga irukka?" . The high and mighty staff will agree to pull out the kurtas from the already messed up shelf only if the hip n hep ladies are not around for them to nakkify.

Fab India is fully aware that people like me and friends who don't get our sizes anywhere else have to come back to their shop to buy cotton tuni-mani. Few places that stock Indian kurtis in plus sizes like O.M.O, Reeth etc, have just about two pieces per size for a particular design and you've gotta be maha lucky to get the right design in the right size... so much adirshtam to buy one tuni mani man! Cottons (Bandra) has plus sizes too but they have everything from a bell to a salangai attached to its kurtas and I literally and figure-atively look like 'Yaanai varum pinne mani osai varum munne' when I wear stuff from Cottons. For the price of one Anokhi stole, you can buy a Rangachari pudavai, so that too is out of the list.

That brings me back to Fab Shaani Shurunai India which has L, XL, XXL in kurtas, mini kurtas, salwars, kurtis. Ofcourse there is yet another problem. You will have your neighbour in office, at home, on the train, on the bus, at the restaurant wearing the same design-colour Fab India kurta (may be a different size) . Afterall, they have been stocking the same azhudu vadiyara poo poatta yellow kurti and blue n white kurta for many many years now.

Now for the main purpose of this post


Akka, romba naala unga veetula car tudaikka tuni kettundu irundiye? Here it is.. Fab India stitches deal with UK's East . Now buy designer-ethnic Shaani Shurunai at a store near you.

Glossary

Shaani Shurunai - Don't know the origin of the word but this is our Tamizh version of mop cloth

38 Responses:

Anonymous said...

ha ha ha ha ha!! Amazingly funny!! I completely agree with you on this!!

I just can't think of spending a thuosand rupees on just one kurthi.. Seri polam polam nu paathaa.. Velaike aavadhu..

Have u tried Cotton Street in Egmore? I mean the roattu Kadais which sell thuni-mani..(Money kuduthathaan thuni-so money-thuni nu sollalaam)

-Faiza

moneykandaan said...

hahaha...thank god...since i dont have feb india experience...

abhi said...

lol@ surunai. I agree 100%. I much prefer buying thuni from Gani cut piece centre and having it stitched to specification at Bhavani tailor. So much better!

Sharanya said...

I am loving this blaaaaag!!!

maxdavinci said...

fabindia.com is best and easiest to gift ppl kurtas!

nvr knew they wore out so easily

Teesu (very very Indian, very very good) said...

Chaana shurunai I thought it was called.or chaana churunai. Not Shaani for sure;)Shaani is Cow aai.

RAJI MUTHUKRISHNAN said...

I think it has something to do with using cowdung to clean floors in the good old days, when the floors were not cemented or tiled. Shaani/chaana -both mean the same.

Cowdung has purifying qualities - is supposed to be a disinfectant, is antibacterial, and keeps insects at bay.

Unknown said...

u kno what the big kaamedii was ... alll the fab india chicks think the velluthu ponna look is ALLL that ... and look down on egmore - thooni wearing chicks like me ... jheheheheh

anantha said...

Adhu "shaana shurunai" illayo? Hmmm i think my sister has not got into this fad at all.

VJ said...

ROTFL!!!!
I completely agree with you... at the same time postively guilty for shopping there everytime !!

Slogan Murugan said...

LOL! Fab one.

Anonymous said...

Soooper post :D The local maami version of Fab India is Rasi, Mylapore. What they sell for Rs. 2000 is something I won't wear to Royapettah Aaspathri. The Pantheon Road thunis don't last very long but at least they don't damage you purse.

The Muser said...

:) True to the hilt!I am guilty of shopping at Fab India...sometimes i end up paying more for a stole than the entire salwar-kurta put together :( And whats more annoying is when you wear something new from there, ppl instantly ask Fab India?

Anonymous said...

ROTFL, and U r 200% rite. those stuffs looks like chaana surunai after 2 or 3 washes.

and teesu is rite, it is called chaana suranai only.

ammani said...

The Muser, you stole something? I understand it's pricey but this is ridiculous! ;)

Artnavy said...

try westside and W for some more variety okay

i love the metaphor for the cotton shop stuff when worn-

u r so hilarious

Kavitha said...

Awesome, very funny - I felt like reading Charles Lamb :) Btw - I am totally lost on Kurta & Kurti, aren't they the same? Pardon my ignorance.

Anonymous said...

aama inge EAST le 70% clearance sale le shaani surunai top is reduced to £35 from £75.... inge UK market le EAST oda target 50 plus women...ore the ethnic rich organic cotton wearing posh UK englipish aunties. nanga ellam ulle pona adhe speed le peeche mood thaan!

buddy said...

thanks faar the warning

Anonymous said...

OMG..Thanks for this post..I thought I wasnt washing the clothes properly, rather I was over washing :), that the clothes fade out soon...Unfortunately, its the only place where I find XS size..also the salwar tops have pockets in them...

shree said...

nice flow.. nice write up.
i bought two kurtis some years back and they are still good for me?

Lavanya said...

Lol! My mom says the saaaaaame thing. Surna thuni maari irukku, adhukku 1000 rs a?! semma post :D

Saya said...

appears that all men hate fab india kurtas.. i get comments like enga veetu dhoosi thuni.. and still keep going there again and again..

RAJI MUTHUKRISHNAN said...

Aren't you delighted with ARR's achievement?

Artnavy said...

TAGGED YOU

Anonymous said...

Fabindia sources its products from over 15000 craft persons and artisans across India. They support the craft traditions of India by providing a market and thereby encourage and sustain rural employment. Probably its functioning for a good cause than the expensive stores in malls which charge a lot of money for foreign goods...

Anonymous said...

It also has xs which is why I keep going back. We refer to it as "Drab India" or drab for short!
ex mumbaigirl

Anonymous said...

OMG....super post....i heard so much about this shop and one of my cousin said, get bedsheets, comforter from fab india,..pure cotton blah blah...so went and got it....one wash...all sayam gone...now the bedsheet which had floral design now has nothing....i have 2 big PUDUTHUNI...thats what we call it at home...never buy anything in fab india...and i paid 3000 rs for the bedsheet and comforter...my mom was telling me that she could have got a nice 1 at bombay deing for that money,...

K

sansmerci said...

had a great lauf! yes fab india clothes can be recognise in a min its all the same!

PS: plz let me blogroll u :)

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Anonymous said...

y no posts?

busy practicing carnatic songs?

Lalaland said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
RAJI MUTHUKRISHNAN said...

Missing you!Where are you?

Sasha said...

Even my kurtis became like that and I hope the curtains I bought are better that that.

Akhila said...

Hi,
Have been reading ur blog for a long time. Delurking only now.

Romba naala no posts? Hope everything is fine.

Anonymous said...

"Shaani Shurunai" - hmm.. after paying a fancy price, I was proudly wearing them so far. The moment you called it as shaani Shurunai.. I felt like... ayye... Canadale carpet veetle tharaiyum thodaikka mudiyadhe..
Will have drop them all for charity! and say good-bye to Fab(less) India.

Gnaanakkannai thoranda blogeswarikku oru periya O potten..
Jay, Mississauga

butterfly Surya said...

ha ha ha... awesome..

First time visitor of your blog..

So funny.. nice

Keep it up..

Cheers
Surya

Gowri Mohanakrishnan said...

Hear, hear! A support group for FabIndia emaanda manushaa.