A Sonnet of Heresy

Middle class dream… shoe shoe!

There I was sitting at the Reebok showroom. Victor was with me, helping me out with the selection. Selecting a show has always taken a lot of time. I don’t know… maybe I am picky. But then I never had any good shoes to boast of in my entire lifespan. Or let’s say good brand… The best I had managed was a Campus.

But this was different experience. Victor, my friend, knew very well why it so. Because it was a dream and a desire!

A middle class person does not always get brands to wear. Neither did I. Not that I was an absolute brand freak. Rather I was not even bothered much. All I knew about shopping clothes was that my mom would get call me home to ask what my waste or show size was and she would get me a trouser or shoe. That’s how I filled up whatever little of a wardrobe I had. It was actually a mini closet… where I kept all my clothes in home. They use it to keep pillows now! That should give you an idea how fashion conscious a person I was. Things did change to some extent when I went to Bangalore to study. Some extent… as there too it was my sister who would usually get me some clothes and my usual shopping was still done in Guwahati during my yearly breaks.

However, in between all these shopping expeditions, I had grown a fancy for two things – shoes and watches. I loved them… and wanted to have the best of them… or at least good looking ones. Watches were not much of a problem. I used to buy cheap but trendy one in traveling in trains back home. And hence I always had some good looking stuff around my wrists. The desire for a show however stayed unfulfilled. And from this was the wish to grow up and start earning as fast as possible. Money was supposed to fulfill my most important demands – chocolates, ice creams, watches and shoes!

And the first salary literally went up in chocolates and ice creams. Good shoes were however still out of reach… they are expensive and now I needed to sustain myself on own money. Worse… expenses suddenly seemed to have multiplied. Wonder what changed! And strangest of all, as time change and along with it my expenses, there was a drastic change in one of my desires… I have not worn a watch for two years now!

Getting back to the present… so there I was shooting sitting at the stool… and then getting up… checking shoes! Victor was with me, helping me out with the selection. He was one of the people who had insisted, along some others that I should switch to a better shoe. And the Reebok 40 per cent flat waiver offer was too tempting to resist. So I had decided… let’s just do it! After much deliberation I did settle for a shoe. It cost me Rs 1900 after the discount. Whoa… that’s the most expensive thing I have ever bought.

So there it was, lying in my room and safely packed in its box… my first pair of Reebok. And there it lay for three more weeks. Till I started hearing friend shouting at me even in dreams for not using it the way it is supposed to be. Yeah did wear it. My first pair of Reebok shoes… blue in colour… and whatever these expensive shoes are like.

My friends were happy… but I swear I was happiest. A middle class childhood dream come true.