Associative Nostalgia - IV ... Shoes.

The pristine innocence of childhood makes one derive happiness and joy from the simplest of things. How the world would become an even more wonderful place to be in, all because the child got a new shoe. Be it the "naughty boy/girl" series from Bata (with their ***.95 pricings), a pair of simple canvas shoes, colorful floaters/sandals, the universal hawaii chappals, or the highly sophisticated "Made in South Asia" products of the big brands - Nike, Reebok, Adidas, etc; well, it doesn't really matter.

How often would you have wanted a new shoe, a different kind of shoe, simply by watching what other people wore? At an age, when we often do not want to get into an another person's shoes, the personal desire or craving for the shoe does often get sadly unnoticed by the parents. In some cases, even if it does get noticed by the parents, the proposal is brutally rejected with the quaint excuse, "You are taking very good care of your shoes. They should easily last one more year". This would and should encourage you to not take very good care of your shoes. Why foolishly wait for one more year because you are being well-mannered? It is simply not worth it.

But then, this new dash of recklessness with the shoe does get noticed. You would be reprimanded for not taking proper care of the shoes. This would be followed by a generalization on the present generation of kids, as to how they have no value for money, how the parents were not like that when they were kids, how tough it used to be in those days to even have a pair of dresses, etc. The child is no doubt helplessly bewildered. Either of its ways has no appeal for the parents; and the new shoe being showcased in the shop across the corner, a sacred place of daily visit, would be sadly and painfully lying there unappreciated.

Days of tantrums finally give way to the ultimate purchase of the shoe. The child proudly goes to the "shop" with its parents. Its eyes would proclaim to the world - "Look, I am going to be the emperor of all that I survey. I am going to get the shoe that I have been wanting all along". All those procedures of buying the right size, trying in a varied set of shoes, going for a short walk within the shop on the new shoe, having a tough time deciding between two equally appealing ones, would make the child be supremely happy. Finally, "All is well that ends well", says the child to its parents with that naughty mischievous smile.

One often wonders, where in the long process of "growing up", does this innocence get lost. Life was far less complicated those days. Or rather, do we tend to make life more complicated as we grow up.

PS: The readers are recommended to view this movie by Majid Majidi, "Children of Heaven", which is a wonderful tale woven about a shoe and the brother-sister duo.