Paloma about town: Retail rush and fitness highs

Spring in Chennai arrives less like a season and more like a rumour—brief, half-believed, and quickly overtaken by heat. Still, for a few fleeting days, timelines bloom with pink “cherry blossoms,” softening the city’s harsh edges. Step outside, though, and the illusion dissolves. Conversations snap back to default: how hot it is, how much hotter it’ll get, and whether rain is just wishful thinking.

Chennai shops, sweats, repeats

And while the heat might have been the main character, the mood was unmistakably retail. First up was The Bear House’s second Chennai store at Phoenix Marketcity. What could have been a routine launch quickly escalated into a full-blown crowd-puller, with long queues and more than a few people lingering just to see what the fuss was about. The arrival of Mutharasan Siddharthan, aka VJ Siddhu, only amplified the frenzy, drawing fans and selfies, post which the store was officially opened.

The weekend kept the momentum going in Chennai, with pop-ups firmly taking over the city’s social calendar. Saturday saw steady footfall at the Summer Soirée at Cocoa and Creme, while Wild Milan at The Folly carried its familiar mix of curated fashion, homegrown labels, and the kind of browsing that turns into long, unhurried conversations. In between all the shopping, we also celebrated designer Punam Jain’s birthday with a fun beachside gathering.

By Sunday, attention shifted to the 25th edition of LocalXO, still one of the city’s most loved Sunday fixtures. It drew its usual crowd for indie brands, food stalls, and that easy, wander-through energy that defines Chennai’s weekend shopping culture. While I always say I’m ‘just stopping by,’ I usually end up leaving with bagfuls of goodies.

While I munched on my sweet treats, I also watched various familiar Chennai faces impressively take on a challenge at Hyrox Bangalore. For the uninitiated, Hyrox is the latest craze taking over the fitness world. Aditi Mammen Gupta, who took part with her husband Chirag Gupta, said that turning 40 made the challenge deeply personal—not about proving anything to others, but about asking if they could still take on something physically demanding together.

Shitija Nahata shared that becoming an athlete at 39 marked the culmination of years of consistency, calling it one of her toughest challenges, and adding that as a mother, she hopes her journey shows her son that reinvention is always possible. Lavanya Mohan said she had been working out for a while but without any real plan or goal, and signing up gave her something concrete to work towards. With a career break on the horizon, she felt she needed direction. “Hyrox was basically my midlife crisis,” she added.

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