Nothing of the sort happens. The proprietor of Mak-Drap, the oldest costume rental in the city, simply opens his catalogues, shows you what he means and proceeds to hire out the costume (dress, accessories, magic wand et al) as per your choice!

The shop in its multi-storeyed present is a far cry from its humble beginnings. In the mid-1940s, Gokhale's father, the late Gajanan Gokhale, a known magician, entertained Puneites with his bag of tricks. Gradually he realised that merely increasing the contents of the bag would not ensure prosperity; it was crucial that he don new avatars for each performance to add that much-needed spark of variety.

``But there was no place in town that could meet his requirements, and he had to rely on his own ingenuity,'' says his son. ``So he would rig together new costumes from old ones. As people started borrowing from him, the idea of setting up a costume rental took root.'' The unofficial trade that started operation from his trunk got legitimised in 1948 when Mak-Drap opened doors in the city.

The unusual name, explains Gokhale, is an acronym coined from the two essential aspects of this business - make-up and draperies. Till date, the shop not only rents out its costumes, but also sends out its make-up artists to do the needful, and its popularity has only grown over the years.

One look at the shelves and racks and cupboards and boxes of colourful costumes, headgear, accessories, fancy footwear, masks, bags, swords, shields, canes proves the variety available. Whatever you could need to be transformed into a particular character, it's all here.

Be it a Vedic ascetic, a Nazi dictator, an angel from the skies, a demon from down under, a daring Indian warrior queen, a coquettish Frenchwoman, a duck from Toon land, a soldier on the battlefront, a vegetable, a flower, a tree - just choose from the 1000-odd characters. Mak-Drap takes care of the rest - dressing you from head to toe and all in between - the gear and even the greasepaint!

No wonder then, on the eve of any school function, college festival, private party or professional performance, Mak-Drap is a beehive of activity. ``Initially, professional theatre groups or film studios would hire our services - Prabhat Studios was a regular frequenter. With its closure, we lost one of our major clients,'' recalls Gokhale, who took over the reins from his father in 1974. ``Accordingly, we had to change our way of functioning to keep pace.''

Consequently, the focus shifted to schools and colleges, and till date, they form the bulk of the business. The rental rates (an approximate Rs 80 to 100 per day) are now in ratio to the initial expenditure incurred for the costume, and vary from item to item, unlike earlier, when everything could be hired at the same charges.

With extensive research on the subject, Gokhale is always on the lookout of new ideas that could be tailored into newer costumes. ``Wherever I go, everything I see - any picture or movie - I look at it in terms of possible costumes!'' All these ideas, photos, paper cuttings are meticulously classified into reference albums under categories like geographical regions, time period, profession, historical figures.

``Every historical age has different weapons. The pagadis that seem similar at first glance have quite a few differences. We have to maintain this authenticity, pay attention to every detail and rule out any possible anachronism,'' says Gokhale.

For the customers, another set of catalogues has been prepared. A photograph of the complete attire is pasted along side an exhaustive list of the individual items. Tips on the appropriate make-up (the customary three ash lines on the sadhu's forehead, the red nose for the stereotypical clown, that precise shade of lipstick and liner) are also included. Follow them carefully, and bingo! the character comes to life!

Come independence day and Gandhis and Tilaks walk out of Mak-Drap. Christmas time and Santas trudge about with their sacks of goodies. The pumpkin of Chal re bhoplya tunuk tunuk fame continues its frisky walk. While these characters can never really take their bow, more and more Tipu Sultans, Akbars, Mahadji Shindes, Mickeys and Donalds are also sighted on stage, thanks to the serials on the tube. ``When the serial The Sword of Tipu Sultan was on air, I rented out as many as 20 Tipu Sultan outfits per day!'' laughs Gokhale. But then it's a classic case of `on the telly, on the mind' and presently every kid wants to be a Kroor Singh, right off the sets of Chandrakanta!

There are times when the Mak-Drap staff have to act as consultants too, as not always does the customer come pre-decided about the character. ``Often the child does not want to be the character the parents desire. But you cannot disregard the child's wishes or even his personality.''

Along with these personal considerations, other issues also demand attention - perfection, for instance. ``People do not settle for mediocrity; their knowledge has increased with exposure to different media. That keeps us on our toes too, checking out the trends, the new fabrics and materials that are available.''

With his years of experience, he points out this is one area where the small screen wields more influence, and though kids may eat spinach because Popeye does, this cartoon character is still to dominate their choice of fancy dress!

Along with educational institutes, private parties and hotels are other clients, as are some production houses (Mak-Drap had provided the entire range of costumes for the Marathi serial Swami, and Dada Kondke's last movie). Catering services too rent costumes and at the next bash you attend, you may just be welcomed by a fairy or served food by Amrapali!

And each time the costume returns from such jaunts, begins the rigmarole of washing, dry cleaning, polishing, damage control. After five to six rounds, the dress may even be shelved, at times without the original cost being recovered.

``But when euphoric students come back after a competition to tell that their play and our costumes were appreciated, it's enough for us. Our tradition continues through them...''