Yummy Chappals

The day before was supposed to be the first day of my attempt at saving some moolah for the rest of the month. What I ended up doing, was not only unbelievable, but also quite a bargain in hindsight. And though it may not be a significant buy, it's been a possession of complete delight for me every time I look at them!

Alright, alright, I'll cut to the chase - I bought this new pair of footwear off Warden Road. Now what's the big deal about buying new chapps? Women buy chapps all the time and I'm no exception. The delight lies in the brand, comfort and the way the pair looks and the material of which it is made. Moreover, the place I got it from is the most unlikely for great footwear.

Cenzere, the tiny hole I got them from, is known for inexpensive trendy footwear that you can sport to work or college or casually, and pass on to the bai in two months. It is not meant to last. It is not meant to generate sentiments such as envy or scorn. Just fun footwear would be an ideal tagline for the place. Twako picked up a comfortable pair when she was here the first time around.
I was walking down that road to get a new charger for my cell phone. No particular agenda other than that, decided to walk into the shop for some idle time-killing. For those of us who are aware of the comfort of the Dr. Scholl's line of footwear from Bata, I was gonna buy off a copy of something of the sort for a fraction of the price of the original, and quite smart with heels too. Lovely beige. Only, size for us monsters has always been a burning issue. "Nai... Madam ismein toh aapka size nai hai," the sales guy said.
Crestfallen only I was.


Then the chap's stance brightens as he suggests, "Original dikhaoon?" I thought original bandar toh I'm looking at only. What else original you'll show me? I was like..."nai... nai..." nodding my head like a moron, as if to prevent me from entering any deal. I was lured. Pakka. But then this guy unearthed the most beautiful pair of chappals. They're huge. There's nothing feminine about them. BUT THEY ARE SO COOL.
And they look like vanilla ice cream with a dollop of dark chocolate on top! YUMMY.

The most wonderful part of the sales guy's spiel was his honesty! The lower most layer of the sole was lovely soft rubber... I kept trying to punch mini cracks into it with my nails and eventually (at the end of the five minutes of the pitch) began simply using it as acupressure equipment for my finger tips. The middle portion is cork, well glass-papered on the sides unlike the Indian versions and neatly finished with a buff leather insole fitted snugly inside the slight scoop that cover the foot. The funniest part came when the lad was describing the top portion.

"Washable hai yeh, Madam!" I was like... you mentioned leather someplace earlier in your pitch, dude, if this be washable, then how this be leather? "Arre Madam [I love that word, man!], yeh itna comfortable material hai, lekin hum laate hain, humko bhi nahin pata kya material hai!" I wanted to laugh, but his honesty struck me.

That last statement sold the shoe. I haggled a bit - "580 mein le lo, Madam!" he said to my appeal for 500 bucks. Apeal won. He sold a pair of original Berkenstocks for peanuts. Germany to my feet, this pair has had an interesting journey, I want to think.