365 Days- Book I

118. Shoes

October 26, 2018

"What kind of shoes do you wear? Where do they lead your feet? "

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Aha! Shoes! So how many pairs do I have? Going by the commonly accepted perception that women have lots of shoes, I could be an exception; at the last count, I have a dozen of them, give or take a pair.

It is not that I do not love shoes, I do but the problem is that I prefer comfort, so my shoes have to be stylish and comfortable. Since most shoes manufacturing companies do business under the firm impression that style and comfort are mutually exclusive there are few shoes which I can buy, though each purchase necessitates a sacrifice on one of the attributes. I am also not comfortable with heels, which automatically removes more than fifty percent of the options in the market.

( I do own a couple of them, at two and a half inches they are the maximum I can wear, and they are preserved for those weddings or get togethers, where I want my feet to look good and hence feel dressed up from top to toe. Needless to day, my feet are not happy. I remember that on one occasion, where it was a relative's wedding, I had taken a new pair of heels, one inch but not yet broken in. I made the mistake of wearing them for the flight journey, which since it involved a stopover at Delhi, in winter, meant that a five hour journey stretched to a nine hour one. By the time I reached the hotel, my feet were cursing me in all known and unknown languages. Even thinking about it makes my feet burn).

I, personally also believe in what the British hold, 'shoes tell more about the person than any other article of dress.' It is of taken to be a sign of snobbery and it blatantly flouted by most people but I cannot help it. When I see people saunter into office, wearing unpolished dusty shoes, open toed sandals, flip-flops (there are a few software companies which allow and encourage this 'casual' form of dressing stating that the work is more important than the dress - my mind has a sarcastic retort - 'so have them come in their pj or night suits, then') I am disturbed, maybe I am old fashioned, I do not know.

Maybe that is also the reason why I do not have a large collection of footwear, I spend most of my time at home or office, where I need comfortable shoes, so the party wear one, those shiny, heeled one which look good but are a pain, do not form a significant part of my collection. In the end, my legs and my back is far more important to me.

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Word count 450