Shoe shine!

Once upon a time many years ago I met a physiotherapist whose idea of comfort was to say, with a certain special rhythm and intonation in his soothing voice, “No pain, no gain!” It is only now, so wonderfully distant from his incredibly annoying stockphrase, that I can completely identify with it. I am a woman and know the power of towering femininity: I wear high heels.

Finding the perfect pair of shoes can be a lifetime’s work and most women revel in that quest. Which in a way explains why so many of them acquire so many pairs of shoes – after all, attaining moksha for the feet takes some hard work and a great deal of trial and error. And it almost always happens that what looks great in the magazines, wonderful on the shelf and absolutely delicious in reality, is not all joy when you actually slide your feet into it and stand up. Even the most elite of all designer sandals can result in a Choo-bite, as it were, while footwear that felt divine at first step could turn into coals of fire and dragon’s teeth by the third.

Something of the kind happened to me recently – I wore the most beautiful diamante-studded three-inch-high stiletto-heeled pale gold sandals to a diamond merchant’s wedding reception and while they were divine in look, feel and sensibility, by the time I had walked to the dias where I had to murmur sweet nothings to the bridal couple, treading over rough ground and uneven carpet, I felt like I had stuck my feet into that exquisitely damaging torture implement called the Foot Press, the version with the sharp metal spikes inside it.

Salvatore Ferragamo, Jimmy Choo, Tod’s, Nine West, Aldo…they are all fairly easily available in India, for a price that will sometimes cause a major case of heartburn in the wallet, but ecstasy for the feminine soul. For a more desi experience, there is always Joy Shoes at the now-rather disturbed Taj Mahal Hotel, as well as various avatars from stores like Metro, Regal, Catwalk, Scandal and others too numerous to remember the names of. You can also get footwear made to order if you smile nicely at the chappie who runs the store – I have a very nice gentleman called Javed, who runs a store called Legs in Matunga, who makes all sorts of designs for me, from doing a ‘same-to-same’ copy of a battered old American pair to painstakingly following my garbled instructions of “I want this heel with that upper, but in a different colour and with a new kind of fastening”. He is happy at the challenge, I am happy with my exclusively-clad feet and the aforementioned feet are happy with the fit and wrap of their new garb. I am sure a number of other stores will do the same. And there is a Chinese shoemaker in King’s Circle that I have been just dying to explore….

There are always rules to follow in this existence and to buy shoes you need to be a little more careful than if you are just buying some basmati rice or tomatoes. Always make sure that you fit footwear on fit feet, if you know what I mean – avoid buying shoes or sandals if you have unnatural swellings as from sprains, breaks, PMS, a long night of dancing or excess salt consumption. Make sure you try on shoes in the evening, because your feet will swell a little over the day and to be a trifle loose in the morning is healthier and less painful than being woefully tight by the time you get home from work. Unless you have ethical considerations, use leather or synthetic simulates, since plastic can cause allergic reactions or rashes due to dampness or bites due to the ungiving material – Jellies are fabulously fashionable, but they can hurt more than you need. Trust me, I know.

Whatever you buy, however you use them, wherever you wear them, shoes and sandals are not just about covering, protecting or just decorating your feet. They are about acquiring what satisfies your soul, deep down and dependably. So enjoy the shoe-shopping experience and remember – it’s sole food!