“ Aapke paanv behad hasin hai, inhe zameen par mat rakhiyega.” The beauty of the soft pink pair of feet described by Rajkumar in Pakeezah is still significant, even after so many generations.
Women love to take care of their feet and show off its beauty by adorning it with exquisite footwear. There is never enough number of footwear in a girls cupboard. There is a pair to go with every dress, every occasion. block heels, flat heels, high heels, peep shoes, ballet shoes, sneakers, loafers, flip-flops, ethnic chappals and what not. There is party wear and there is casual wear.
During one of my visit to Metro shoe showroom, I saw a young college going girl along with her friend looking for a pair of high heels. Her hair colored in ombre, rugged jeans and backpack made her appear in tune with the latest teenage trends. Besides her, lay a pyramid of sandals she must have tried. I felt like instantly recommending increment for the salesman who was dealing with her. I mean the patience level of the poor guy should be incorporated into the syllabus of sales management.
The technology plays such a crucial role during shopping these days. every time the girl tried a sandal, she clicked a pic of her feet and sent to her Babu or Shona, I mean to her boyfriend. She would then call him. “ Babu Kaisa lag raha hai. Le lu?” from the other end , the answer could be inferred in affirmative. However, she would then say, “Babu, it’s not that good. Not having that x-factor. Main aur dekhti hu.” Again next sandal, next photo, and next call. I felt the boy must be really head over heels in love with her. After all, it was a question of her feet and he was handling them after every five minutes without much fuss. These species of boyfriends are rare.
I got engrossed in her shopping and finally, I gave my unsolicited advice to this girl that the one she was trying on looked beautiful. “Really, is it good.?”… “Ok for a party?”… “Colour is nude, I hope it’s not looking dull?” and finally she clicked the snap once more and the choice was finalized. But after hearing the cost of sandal, all the hard work of the salesman and my advice went in vain. She refused to buy it. “ Bhaiya thoda kam kar do, it’s out of my budget.”Finally, she left without picking up any of the sandals from the pyramid. I am pretty sure the level of irritation of the salesman was immeasurable while he faked a smile at me politely.
The other lady who caught my attention, while my husband tried on some shoes appeared to be a professional and no-nonsense. She was dressed in an elegant crisp cotton, maroon colored ethnic kurta with green churidar. She went through the shelves and picked up four to five pairs.
“I want platform heels and in red color.” She was specific. It took only a few minutes for her to decide which pair she was picking up. Later she picked up three more pairs of various sandals, all this done in flat 15 minutes. Now she appeared as an inspiration and breaking stereotypes of women shopping. She changed to her new sandals in the shop itself and left the place with a happy salesman behind her.
However contrasting, the shopping style of both the females was, but the love for shoes was common. The young dreamy one fantasized about too perfect of a pair for her feet, while the other matured lady knew what she needed and chose accordingly. I felt it was like a small lesson in itself. Restrict your variety of choices, and you definitely find what you suits your need. It is far less complicated. See, the shoephille in the woman can at times teach you philosophy of life.
One of my male friends always complains that we females shop unnecessarily. According to him, first women have the cupboard full of clothes, then whenever there is any occasion, they say that they don’t have anything proper to wear. Either the dresses are not in tune with current trend or they might have worn at an earlier function. As if, everyone remembers the dress they were wearing at a party three months back. Then for every dress women need a different kind of shoes. Why womenfolk complicate life with so many options. Why can’t they simply have one casual, one party wear and one daily wear pair? So much variety and so much confusion. And the most dreading part, when they ask, “Honey is this sandal going ok with this dress?” For men, everything is ok, as long as you are comfortable and can walk on your own without hurting your feet because of heels or improper fitting of shoes. I agree to his point of view. it does make sense.
I appreciate a young lady who worked as a professor at an eminent college. She wore saree every day, but she paired it with her comfortable, good quality, branded sneakers. I never got a chance to interact with her, still, I assume she has given preference to comfort over style. Her wearing sneakers, instead of sandals or ethnic chappals breaks styling stereotype and makes her appear a strong headed woman who is not afraid of going with her choices.
Yours truly, who is also in love with different kind of shoes, however in possession of limited four pairs according to casual and formal ones, couldn’t resist having a look at the variety of shining fashionable sandals at the display of Metro showroom. I was intently looking each piece of artwork of footwear for lovely feet of a woman, my hubby’s voice brought me back to the moment. “So, are you tempted to buy one of those?” He asked.
“ Ek jodi chappal ki keemat tum kya jaano Ramesh Babu.” I thought to myself . “ cinderella ki azaadi hoti hai yeh, pairo ka pyar hoti hai ye aur waqt pade toh aurat ka hatiyaar hoti hai ye.”…We left the shop…I am sure I will be back there soon to pick up comfort for my feet, without complicating the choices much.