Shopping For Love In The Malls!

Shopping has never been more pleasurable for young boys and girls, than it is today. Gone are the days, when people would go to a mall to purchase a gift for their love, now they find the gift of their life in the malls – their love.

The malls in Bahrain have never witnessed such stampede of youngsters and all because the type of shopping that is done is not one that requires bags.

Immaculately dressed young men wearing designer clothes look openly at groups of young women made up beautifully wearing expensive perfumes, the two sides looking at each other, giving cold shoulder to the taboo against meeting before wedlock.

This is the normal weekend routine. Every weekend sees thousands of young men and women from around the Gulf come down to Bahrain, which is considered to be one of the most relaxed Muslim countries. These youngsters visit Bahrain only to prowl the malls for love.

According to one young boy, “the mall is the meeting place for the girls. Firstly, we watch, they watch. I smile, they smile, then I go to her and give her my number. You have to be careful of their family. If they turn up I get out of there quick.”

Meetings between unknown men and women, is not looked at favorably in the Gulf society and in the neighboring country of Saudi Arabia. Muslim families are generally extremely strict when it comes to their children meeting strangers. There are even special religious police that are always on the lookout to arrest transgressors.

A mall is one of the best places to see Gulf people outdoors, as the women rarely venture out otherwise. Even if their parents come with them, they usually get involved in shopping in these huge malls and youngsters find the freedom they look for.

There are no charges and the entrance to the malls is free and there are no age restrictions. They are kept open late into the night and given their large sizes, there are plenty of opportunities to easily lose family and friends for a chat with a possible love interest.

These youngsters dress up as if they are celebrating Eid, even at other times; since it is customary to dress up well and look good during Eid. The coffee shops are filled with young boys and girls scanning the tables to find someone they may like.

There have been many instances in the past that leads to severe punishments, even death of the young people who braved it by venturing out of the safety zone. Families in the Arab countries take pride in ensuring their children follow the rules and no deviation is appreciated, nor is it forgiven. In some families, punishment is severe even to this day, yet knowing the consequences, these youngsters follow their heart.

Social behavioral experts believe that this could be happening because youngsters have been restricted for too long from doing things they enjoy doing and now time has come for them to do what their heart tells them to and are even prepared to face the worst, for a small piece of life they can call their very own.

Experts say that the attraction between young boys and girls is naturally inherent in every youngster, but it is kept dormant by the imposition of a certain form of behavior that has to be followed. Breaking these rules and giving their feelings a chance is what this is all about.