Consider the shoe. Consider them both. We usually do. A single shoe is the sign of something gone wrong, like theft, or something unnatural, like a store display. Dark, light, wide, narrow, stiff and loose — shoes are as diverse as their wearers. They follow a wide variety of unspoken rules, again like their wearers. Most of them are unnecessary, again…
Take for instance the leather shoe. It is uncomfortable to wear, difficult to maintain and gets dusty in a matter of minutes. Yet people associate it with elegance and wealth. One must marvel at how a mediocre piece of footwear achieved such high status.
One reason might be, the leather reminds the viewer about the strength of the wearer. Only the most powerful hunter would be able to hunt down animals and craft their hides into footwear. Although when we see patrons of leather shoes these days, we observe a different type of hunt. One for the next restaurant where waiters serve drinks in Beats headphones.
Leather shoes might also tingle our sadomasochist drives. They enable us to live out our ’50 Shades of Gray’ fantasies. Considering the colors leather shoes are available in, ‘2 Shades — Brown and Black’ would be a better fantasy.
Whatever be the reason, leather shoes, in all their undeserved, much-celebrated fame, are the Lady Diana of the footwear world.
An incredible example of shoe engineering are high heels. An ode to innovation, high heels not only make us look good, but also completely change how we walk. Only a genius would have had the idea of concentrating the weight of a body onto two points rather than distribute it over a surface. They challenge decades of walking experience and even change the way our minds think. Anyone who thinks puzzles and logic games are the secrets of a healthy brain, has never tried wearing high heels and walking around the block.
We have shoes we wear daily which are like our jobs. They’re there as a means to an end. We, as a people, haven’t even needed them for most of our history. They’re not great, but they’ll do. Until we get something better or they become uncomfortable. Poor people keep them for years. No matter how intolerable they become.
Our fancy shoes are like our drinking buddies. We see them on weekends, and they make us feel good. Sometimes they may even help us attract someone special. They make us spend quite a lot of money, but we convince ourselves that it was worth it.
We also have a pair of shoes which are like those elderly relatives of ours. We only see them on special occasions like weddings or funerals. Though it feels great to be with them at first, after some time they make every moment excruciating and painful.
Shoes are a much celebrated part of our life. ‘Walk a mile in another man’s shoes’ — say the pundits — ‘and sleep 8 hours, eat your greens and do yoga on weekends’. But we always forget about something which foot-in-foot with shoes. Much maligned and usually forgotten. We couldn’t do without them, but we never give them their due.
Socks.
Like the quintessential middle child wedged between the admired shoes and the protected feet, socks get a raw deal. We complain about how stinky they get, when it was the feet that did it. If our shoes get wet, we don’t squirm as much as when our socks get wet. We keep them hidden, frowning upon those who commit the grave sin of wearing socks with sandals. A good sock is felt, not seen we insist.
We even pair them up with their same kind, without ever pausing to think about our actions. We never consider if the pink sock actually wants to be with another pink sock. Wouldn’t it rather be with an orange sock? Or a blue? This arbitrary segregation of socks must end. We must allow our socks to be free. To mix and match with whomever they please. This will also save us the pain of discarding a lone sock when its predecided partner goes missing in the dryer.
Our shoes have also become tools of status. We obsess about the price tag and the brand of our shoes. So much that we forget to stoop and check the shoe another person is wearing. But, one place where all shoes become equal are the Hindu Temples. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fancy $3000 Gucci pair handcrafted by blind orphans in Italy or a simple $10 pair which the cobbler put together in a hurry. If you’re a shoe, you’re outside. No arguments. This humbling act proves that religion does not care about your wealth. Until it needs a donation, that is.
