Getting into the shoes!!!

Though the reality of my making is cruel, I serve humanity. Leather is the basic raw material, but nowadays I am made of synthetic rubber, cloth and plastic too. My life span is generally lesser than that of humans, but I am getting as famous.

There are some interesting proverbs associated with me…

1)“If the shoe fits, wear it” – Simple yet exemplary. If something fits, you need to use it. But you must use me for the PURPOSE for which I am made!
2)“Old shoes are the easiest” – Another simple one. Old shoes don’t BITE. They are easy to handle and our OWNERS get used to us.
3)“Don’t throw away your own shoes till you have new ones” – Very true and generally most of them follow this. I’m sure those who THROW me would either have one already or buy one on the way with the money GIFTED for throwing me around.
4)“One shoe will not fit every foot” – If this proverb is understood well then my owners will start ASKING the size of the other before throwing. Might as well throw both.
5)“Between saying and doing, many a pair of shoes is worn out” – Leaders don’t SAY what they DO and DO what they SAY. So I get worn out and worthy enough to be thrown.

Jokes apart… Eh… Proverbs apart, let us focus on branding and marketing. These are the few words the marketing executives use:

1)This is the new USE-AND-THROW model!!
2)This one comes with SPIKES!!
3)Easy to HANDLE and highly flexible!!
4)SOLID Grip!!
5)Light weight, acts EASY on your BODY!!
6)Long LASTing!!!

The last one is the best, “You buy this one and use it well, and all eyes are on you!!”

Every great politician and leader is associated with me. Remember Abraham Lincoln? He was once asked "Mr. Lincoln, you should not forget that your father used to make shoes for my family". And the whole senate laughed; they thought they had made a fool of him. But he said “I know that my father used to make shoes in your house for your family, and there will be many other here... because the way he made shoes; nobody else can. He was a creator. His shoes were not just shoes, he poured his whole soul in it. I can also make shoes.”

Remember Mahatma Gandhi? One day as he stepped aboard a train and one of his shoes slipped and landed on the track. Unable to retrieve it, he threw the other pair close to the first one and said, “The poor man who finds the shoes lying on the track will now have a pair he can use.” Gandhi also learnt the craft of shoe-making. At the age of 63, he made a pair of sandals for Vallabhbhai Patel when they were both imprisoned at Yeravda jail. He had once presented a pair of hand made sandals to General Smuts, who had jailed him in SA. On Gandhij's 70th birthday, Gen. Smuts wrote, “I have worn them for many a summer, though I feel that I am not worthy to stand in the shoes of so great a man."

These stories of political leaders range way back to the good old days were I was used as a measure of love and affection and the “receiving end” endeavor made me feel good. Now with Bush, Chidambaram, Jindal, Advani I am at the “giving end”. The transition is painful!!!

I am called the shoe… Kindly reverse the letters “SHOE” and pronounce them, you will know why I am thrown around.

Whhoooossshhh!!!