Shishu (Clothing)

It's natural to feel thrilled at the birth of a new child and distribute sweets to people proclaiming ecstatically that you are a father. And if you are the one married to the mother, they will even eat them. Ecstasy can, however, soon turn to agony when you realize just how much shopping a newborn entails. Thankfully, if you live around Banjara Hills, you don't need to look beyond Shishu.

Locating Shishu shouldn't be too difficult - it stands on Road No. 2 Banjara Hills, where Q-mart was once located. If you're still pondering, it's on the road right across the popular veggie restaurant Chutney's and the new Q-Mart, near Foodworld.

Shishu's website is slick and informative - you can feel quite impressed by the range of neo-natal products for the new mother that the store has. The store comprises a pharmacy, Mediworld, that has the likes of Vichy, L O'Real, Bodyshop and, of course, the meds. The information on the web is snazzy and exhaustive, giving the impression of a sprawling infant superstore - for a while it can have you thinking teddies and what not.

However, when you have your first glimpse at Shishu's facade, you gape in disbelief - it's a stacked and congested store with an area as small as your kid's crib. One portion of the store is the pharmacy Mediworld, while the rest is the kiddie world. And there's barely any walking space.

Hold your horses, however - don't let Shishu's silhouette sag your spirits, for the store, so very neatly, does have the vast range of baby products you came expecting. There are Gerber food products, cereal, scores of utilities (some as rare as baby nailclippers, baby tongue cleaners and deodorant sprays, pre-natal heart listeners and monitors, and baby weighing scales), potties, several kinds of toiletries including the quintessential diapers, wearables, feeding accessories and the like.

The prices can appear a tad steep, but they are definitely affordable if you are shopping in this area. Also check out what the allure is all about in Mediworld's world-class range Vichy.