A Christmas Story from my Village
It is not only FB that
has those Christmas Stories, in my village too there are such hidden gems.
Some time ago a request
was bounced past me ‘Do you know of someone who would have men’s shoes?’
I did not.
‘It is not as though
these people are deprived, the parents have jobs, but shoes...’
I did try a couple of
places with hardly any success and then I called this family. I hummed and
hawed and then in a gasp blurted out, totally out of context to the ongoing
conversation.
‘Do you have shoes...?’
‘Shoes...?’ said the
person on the other side, probably totally bewildered.
‘Oh! Shoes. Let me
see...’
We discontinued our
conversation. I did not have much hope for these ‘shoes’ nor those dreadful
words, ‘Let me see...’ They usually mean, the person cannot help you. C'est la vie mon amis. Anyway...
A week later, a knock at
my door, a member of the Family, stands there with a pristine bag. She hurries
off leaving me clutching the bag, swallowing my thanks.
Of course I open the bag, nestled inside a number of
shoes in pairs, black, brown, even a pair of boots.
What was amazing however was that the Family had taken
the trouble to polish these shoes to such a shine that you could smell the
delicious smell of leather and shoe polish. Every pair had the adequate pair of
shoe laces threaded through the eyelets.
I did speak to one of the Family members, who brushed
off my thanks but said, ‘Sometimes, it is not the poor who need our comfort but
also the Middle Class who need to hold their heads high amongst their peers and
clothes is where it shows.’
Oh, yes we have our own Christmas Stories.
And just in case you are full to your gills with
Christmas Carols and vibrant songs of bonhomie, take a look at something
different.
SYMPATHY -RARE BIRD (Whith Lyrics) 1969
Many queries left blank for a good interesting and
ReplyDeleteinsightful story. What sizes were the shoes, wear for general wear/ trekking/sports/rain wear/ costs/ given free etc From where did they get it and so on?
Very many thanks for reading my Blog, in addition you did take the trouble to point out certain aspects which in your opinion, may have bettered my Post.
DeleteAs I have said before, I am really grateful to any person who takes time off from their hectic schedules to read my Posts and I thank you.
Coming to your query, let us suppose the shoes were all terrain wear and to quote you 'general wear/trekking/sports/rain', does it change the essence of the story?
To the recipient of the shoes and to me the provenance of the shoes was unimportant. To me and the recipient the love and the concern showed by the Family, here the donor is of utmost importance.
But for your questioning mind let me add a codicil. There were all types of shoes, many more than those you have mentioned.
Why remain unknown?
A Very Happy New Year 2019 to you.