We all know
that for ages now women’s craze for shopping is a matter of global concern. Boy
friends are worried about their girlfriends obsession to shop, husbands have
their wives to worry about too and women for that matter are worried about what
other women they know have already shopped J. My lawful wife also has this
obsession to some degree, though off late it tends more towards shopping for
her beloved son. As a matter of fact our household has more clothes for Avyaan
then what probably our rest of family line would have in aggregate. She says I shouldn't
comment on it as she would shop whatever and howsoever she wants to for her
beloved son. Yes, beloved, at times I feel if I was just half as beloved as he
is I would have been a leading cloth merchant in UK J. So every time we go out, shopping
for Avyaan is the only constant, all other variables are aligned based on this.
So now he has a bevy of jackets and shoes that a man of any age would envy him
for.
And of his
humongous wardrobe he puts on something new every day and merrily goes to his nursery.
Either of us drop him to his nursery on his pram which is a 15 minutes’ walk
from our place. Recently, the loving mother bought him a pair of beautiful
shoes (I wish they had it for my size too) which he put on the very next day
and went to his nursery. Even his care taker ma’am acknowledged his lovely pair
of shoes, only to make me feel all the more jealous. That evening I had an
important submission and I was in back to back meetings, hence I asked my wife
to bring him back home that evening. She did so but after coming back she gave
me the bad news that he has dropped one of his shoes somewhere on the road and I
should immediately set out towards his nursery to look for the lost pair, as
she was too tired to go back. I knew the criticality of the situation and the
repercussions of my not going out immediately too. But it wasn't an easy task
to manage the business stakeholders and asking them for a half an hour break
hours before an important submission. But her restlessness made matters alarming
and I somehow negotiated for some time and rushed out looking for the lost shoe. I was
pretty confident that I will get hold of the shoe as what would someone do with
a single shoe. But as I approached his nursery, I was evidently nervous as
there was no trace of the shoe anywhere and she was calling me again and again
but I didn't answer it as I had nothing good to share.
As I came
back come empty handed, the dejection and the pale on my face was akin to what I
probably had when I once flunked in my engineering exams. So by now even Delhi
and Chhattisgarh were aware of this probable colossal loss, but they were all
hoping that I will bring home the good news and wade off their anxiety. But I failed,
failed miserably and as I delivered the bad news, a sense of sadness loomed
over the Awasthi household. The only remaining hope was finding the lost shoe
in his nursery next morning, but even that was not to be as the shoe was lost
on the road. The house lady took some time to get in terms with this loss but that
didn't deter her shopping spirits, rather only catalyzed it J. And as we were coming to terms
with this incident and we were tying his shoes laces a tad more tightly the act
got repeated. And this time it happened when I was taking him to the nursery in
the morning. As I was dropping him, I realized he has once again done it and
only one of his feet had a shoe on it. I was appalled, I asked him what do you
man, how do you manage it? In his response, he just flashed a naughty smile, as
if it was all pretty much planned and intentional. I couldn't stop myself from
laughing but I was well aware of the nightmare to follow.
To keep a
cool head and have a single minded focus on the shoe search while coming back
home, I decided to not share this horrifying news with her. This time around I was
pretty confident of finding the shoe as I was about to traverse the same route
almost immediately. Much to my dismay the result was still the same and I was
cursing the people of this country like anything. I was wondering what the hell
do they do by picking up single pair of shoe! The only weird thought that was
constantly crossing my mind was that somehow this shoe should be of the opposite
feet of the previously lost shoe J. Not that I intended to ask Avyaan
to put on two differently paired shoes but it was the only sense of good luck I
was hoping from these outrageous streak of events. Unfortunately, it happened
to be the same shoe but then it hardly mattered. As I shared this news with her,
she was furious and a familiar sense of sorrow dawned yet again. So while
Avyaan was playing in his nursery barefooted, wify was yet again busy in browsing
for new pair of shoes, I was amazed with this rather uncanny streak of events
and the psyche of the rag pickers of London.
As I was going
to pick him up the same evening I was amazed to witness something
extraordinary. Somebody had carefully placed a single shoe well beneath a
traffic light post, it was the very shoe that had broken many hearts few hours
back. The very moment all those rag picker thoughts faded away and my respect
for the meticulous and honest people of London increased leaps and bounds J. I was raring to grab the shoe
instantly but I held back waiting for the traffic light to go green, so that
people waiting at the signal don’t mistake me for a white collared rag picker J. Moments later I gleefully caught
hold of the shoe and instantly called up the worried mother to share this
glorious news. The amazement in my voice while delivering the news was same as
it would have been when I passed my engineering with Honors. The Awasthi
household was once again in laughter and soon enough the joy precipitated to
other familiar parts of India too J.
We don’t know
how many more shoes our bwoy will successfully manage in dropping off but all I
repent for at this stage is how I wish I knew this smart art of dropping my
shoes at that age, I would also have had a new one every few days J.
--
kin…
