I am no Imelda Marcos. But I do have more than one pair of footwear. There are the regular use sandals in brown, black and beige, a couple of gold ones that I bought for weddings in the family and of course walking shoes. There was a time when the leather chappals that our family cobbler Nalliah hand made lasted for years as did the leather and canvas shoes bought at Bata.
With all the fancy technology, footwear today looks good only in the shop. Pay hefty amounts, bring them home and start using them (you will be damned if you use them occasionally) and they will come apart in various ways in a very short span of time. The top from the sole, the inside cushion that will crack and break and the perforated black sole that literally crumbles into pieces. I had been perplexed by this problem for a long time. I hadn’t stepped into any muddy puddle or washed or wiped them with a wet cloth ever. I took it to the store in the hope that it could be mended or fixed only to be told that slippers like these have to be worn once a week compulsorily and their life was only around five months. I came back and checked the soles of the rest of the pairs in the closet and no prizes for guessing what happened. I just consoled myself by thinking it was my Saturn getting nullified. After all, when your slipper gets stolen (usually outside a place of worship) there is a belief that Saturn has left you. While that is another story, running the risk of having footwear come apart is too much to handle really.
I once checked in my baggage and was proceeding to security at the Chennai airport. And just at that precise moment in time the slipper on the right foot came apart. I hobbled along to the check in counter and asked them if I could open the checked in bag in their presence and take out the spare pair from inside .The answer was a firm no. So I continued with one slipper in hand past security till I came to a footwear shop in the airport and bought myself a spare pair.
These experiences have made me so nervous that I never go anywhere without a spare pair. And what’s more I have decided to start living simply and make do with just one or two pairs at a time. In this use and throw consumerist world that is the only sensible solution if I don’t want to be caught on the wrong foot.
Sudha Umashanker
Email: sudha.ganesha@gmail.com