Safety Footwear

It easily comes to me, "my foot."

Have I ever wondered how important is footwear to me? Nope, not until this moment. My dad was from a middle-class family, but he never made me feel even a bit of that as he always used to buy footwear from branded shops across the city. He always used to tell me that people would look at your footwear first and then judge you, they are least bothered of how good you are from within.

Well, as I told you not until today, I had realized the value of footwear when I went to the interview. The girl who was sitting beside me gave me a nervous wreck. She was highly knowledgeable, and more than her, I was sure of her getting through the interview with a clean chit. I thought of moving out, but then I thought of waiting for that desirable candidate and congratulate her. As expected, she came out with full smiles. She wished me good luck and told her that the questions were easy. Before I could ask her about questions, the receptionist called out my name, I thanked my luck and went inside the office room.

The lady in white had already started observing me right from the door till the chair where I was asked to sit down.

Good morning Ms....., I told them my name. They asked me a simple question, which was indeed simple that any layman could answer, "you had only one safety pin which you had already pinned up neatly on your saree. You are waiting for the interview call, and suddenly when they call out your name, out of fear and tension, you stumble upon your saree because of which your footwear is broken.

What do you do?

So simple," I would take out the pin from my saree and use it to pin up the footwear."

That's it, I thought so easily. I never expected that another one would be a bomb. Now, it was the gentleman's turn. 

"What if the footwear was that of a person who would be waiting for the interview?" Would you have to lend your pin?

I replied, I would because I knew in my mind that I always would wear chudidhar and no one would ask me for a pin. The gentleman looked satisfied with the answer and gave me a broad smile, not to say that a few of his teeth were dark and stained.

I came out and thought of leaving in anticipation that the girl who was sitting next to me would get in, but the receptionist had told me to wait, which I did, chatting with the knowledgeable girl. We were totally immersed in our talk when she asked me for a safety pin, thank God, my mom had put a small kit of essentials, from which I gave her. She was thankful for having received it and asked if I would mind if she would fix up her footwear with that, to which I replied I wouldn't mind, and she fixed it up.  

The receptionist called out my name, to my surprise, the girl who was sitting next to me smiled and congratulated me with a painful voice. I requested her to wait over there and thought there would have been some confusion. She nodded her head while I entered the office room, greeted by the lady in white, and the gentleman with stained teerh who congratulated me and gave me the offer letter. On seeing that, I was dumbstruck, the package was on the heavier side, which I accepted willingly and totally forgot about that girl.  

Once I came out with the offer letter in my hand, I looked up at the empty chair where the knowledgeable girl was sitting. While chatting, I totally forgot to ask her, her name, but she was humble enough to share with me the interview details wherein they had asked a similar question about lending the safety pin to which she had replied a big NO quoting the reason that it would cost her, her dignity. But, the fact was, it was the only safety pin that her mother had used for a long time, and she had taken it from her to pin her saree, and if she had lent that pin, then no way, she could get back that pin, since the receiver of that pin would have definitely used it up to secure the footwear. She had also told me as to why the footwear tore because it belonged to her mother, which was a size bigger than her footwear.

Unaware of the facts and figures, the company where I had got selected had missed out on a candidate who was much more eligible to the post than me for just the reason of footwear and a safety pin. I feel sorry for the footwear and safety pin, which are both the essentials of our lives. I thanked my dad and the numerous footwear that he had bought me since childhood and my mom for packing all the essentials in my handbag. I took pride in walking in my own footwear and carrying a bunch of safety pins in my bag.

I pray for that girl wherever she is, let her be blessed with so many footwear and safety pins that she would be able to help not only herself but also the people around her.

GOD BLESS.