In Chennai, many medical shops, photo studios, doctors’ clinics, browsing centres, barber shops, photocopying shops, etc., require their customers to leave their footwear outside so that their floors remain unsullied. I wonder why some barber shops require customers to enter barefoot, especially when their floors are strewn with clipped hairs.
One has to leave footwear outside a temple. Some temples do not employ men to secure the footwear. Devotees who leave expensive shoes outside are anxious to reclaim their footwear before they are purloined. Some devotees keep praying to god to safeguard their shoes left outside, unguarded.
A shoe can be cheap or it can cost a fortune depending upon who makes it or who sells it. I walked into a shoe seller’s shop in a high-end mall and asked for a low-end walking shoe. The shopkeeper replied, “Sorry sir. We sell only premium shoes which are imported.” I walked away since the price quoted was in five figures. The problem with expensive shoes is you have to safeguard them, especially when many establishments require them to be left outside at the mercy of shoe ‘pinchers’.
Another problem with footwear left in the open is that they are subject to the vagaries of nature. A leather footwear can become a liability once the rains start pouring. To my query about its durability, a shopkeeper told me while selling a leather chappal, “If you walk into puddles of water, the chappal will become like roti soaked in milk. The warranty of six months will not hold good if the leather chappal is damaged by water.”
Marriage halls, some years ago, required guests to leave their footwear outside. But, the halls became hunting grounds for thieves who had a flair for collecting others’ footwear. Some guests who could not identify their own footwear in the sea of shoes lying in the open were tempted to wear someone else’s shoes and leave in a hurry. Of late, guests are allowed to enter most marriage halls wearing footwear; they remove them while climbing the dais where the ceremony is conducted.
At a relative’s wedding, a naughty girl took away the shoes of the groom left outside while he was praying in a nearby temple as a prank. The groom was aghast when he could not find his shoes after prayer. The groom’s father took it as a bad omen and was upset. The girl realised that it was not wise to demand money from the groom for restoration of the shoes especially when the groom’s party was in no mood to consider it as a prank and quietly returned it to them.
P Subramanian
Email: mailpsubramanian@gmail.com