Skip to main content

PRINCESS AND HER SLIPPERS



Last evening, we had just finished tea and were waiting for a stray puppy who has now become our friend to come and play with us when a young colleague of mine came along with his little daughter about two years old riding past on his bike. Some instinct within me wanted to pick her up & hug her. So I called them over. It did not take much time to make friends with her. One toffee and a chocolate did the trick. She only spoke pure Marathi and me in Hindi but we started conversing and got engaged in an intense conversation ranging from colours, likes, favourites, dresses, shoes et al.

I touched her papa’s bike and she admonished me “majhi aahe”, I begged her pardon and took a few steps back. My car was standing by so I told her majhi car; she quickly replied majhi pan ghar aahe. I was impressed with this bundle of energy. I saw this darling wearing Kohlapuri chappals and told her Changli aahe and she told me she has three of them joining her pointer finger to the thumb and showing me three fingers. The father said, to take her near a footwear shop is like taking wife into a jewellery store. I winked at him as this reminded me of many things my daughter used to do at the same age.  

This reminded me of one such incident with my daughter. She was very fond of foot wear and she could tell any auntie in the Officer’s mess to take them off for her to do modelling. In those days offending a senior lady could become problematic but we sailed through.

One fine day we were in the market, in a place called Nabha. As we passed by a footwear shop she dragged us into it. She went in and asked for chappals. Looking at my daughter’s tiny size the shopkeeper started with all sorts of sandals for little girls like those squeaky ones and she rejected them all. Nahiiii was her straight answer. I was getting a little uneasy as we were getting late for some function. Finally, she could explain to the person that she wants to see adult size chappals. Well, it became a kind of a joke and both of us also wanted to understand the reason of rejection for the 50 she had seen till now.

This jolly sardarji gave up and said sorry puttar he doesn’t have one and my daughter started crying. It was a small shop; many others who also wanted to pick up their footwear were not happy with the attention being paid to her and rightly so. I told my wife lets pick her up and move otherwise there will be no end to this drama.

As we got down the steps of the shop she started pointing out to one slipper lying at the first step and we put her down. She picked up that ghissa hua chappal and went and showed it to the shopkeeper that I want like this one. Can you all imagine chappals completely worn out?  Remember those blue and white Bata chappals when they used to get old the blue colour used to pop out from under the thumb and in many one could count fingers like small little “aloos” due to wear and tear? She said aap ke paas aisi chappal nahi hai kya. That poor shopkeeper looked bewildered at my daughter’s choice. She told the him that Geeta didi ki tarah chappal chahiye. You can imagine our embarrassment.

The story didn’t end there as now we were more intrigued why was she so much in love with such throwaway chappals.  Next day my wife found out the secret of her infatuation for such chappals. Our Bai, poor lady used to wear one pair of such kind. While my wife used to wait for her to come to take care of our daughter while she went for her bath and change, Anika used to freak out and run around the whole house in Bai’s chappals.

Now, she is almost 18 and her love for slippers remains the same. She is as tall as me and now can carry herself in a six inch heel. She has shoes in all shapes and sizes but when I go looking for mine I can never find them where I left them last. The first thing is to ask her did you take mine and the answer is a simple, “NO”. The second thing is to go looking for them to her room; if still you cannot trace them then they would be in her bathroom.

Today, on meeting that little girl I got a little emotional remembering when my daughter was that age, chirpy and talkative like hell and super choosy about anything and everything. I remember my wife used to remind all Brigade ladies to hide their footwear with their saris but my daughter would walk up to any auntie and tell her to show her shoes, if she liked them she could  order her to take them off. My Commander’s wife used to call her and before she could ask for it she used to give them to her and that whole party we never had to bother about anything till we went for dinner and madam happily went bare foot.

Such small things lift you up so much. May God bless both these girls and I want my little princess to remain that dainty little sweet heart for ever but for how long? I wonder!!!!!!!!!!!

JAI HIND
© Noel Ellis

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FINGER ON YOUR LIPS

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   29/IV/2025   What has happened to Pakistan? While India is doing Fauji Exercises, Pakistan has mobilised for what! I agree that the people of India want revenge. But, from whom? Our PM has only said that “we will not leave the terrorists and their supporters till the end of the Earth”. He has never said he will sort out Pakistan, or has he?   It has been hilarious watching discussions on Paki social media channels. They seem to have already given up. Our RM meets the PM and Pakistan starts shitting bricks. They talk about jazba and gazwa, and start telling us about their nuclear arsenal. 160 I suppose. By the way we will send across one equivalent to your 160 if need be.   There is a saying, ‘Chor ki Dari main tinka” literal meaning is, a straw in a thief’s beard. However, the deep meaning is that a guilty person reveals his guilt through his behaviour, even unintentionally. Clearly, “a guilty conscious needs no accuser”...
14 comments
Read more

IF THERE IS A WAR…...

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   28/IV/2025   I remember the 1971 war as a small child. We were in Kapurthala Punjab, very close to the Pakistan border. It was an evening in December, I do not remember the exact date. While returning from a friends house, the declaration of war was done as I skipped along the ‘Thandi Sarak’ of Kapurthala.   The gist was that a vehicle with loud speakers was telling people to head home as an "emergency" had been declared and war had started. I ran as fast as I could, shivering with fear and my heart beating unusually fast. Though I was a lap baby when the 1965 war had taken place, it appeared serious business now.   Overnight, Dad and other Uncles started digging trenches infront of our homes. Carbon paper was no dearth in a teachers house, so mom got into an overdrive to stick them to the glass windows. Though the glass had been painted during the 1965 war, some broken panes had been replaced. Mom told ...
2 comments
Read more

SCENE AT ELLIS’ RESTAURANT

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   04/XI/2024   Every morning the scene in the Ellis’ restaurant is so refreshing. The notes birds sing sounds like ‘reveille’ being sounded by the buglers. The ‘scenario’ keeps varying with arrival of different birds at different timings.   It is like being a restaurant owner, working solo with minimum help. Yours truly is the waiter, housekeeper, cook, receptionist, barman, purchase manager, accountant, and storekeeper of this shack. Imagine!   Foremost thing in the morning is housekeeping of the garden area, followed by watering the pots. This gives the plants a nice bath, like kids being readied for school.   The first set of ‘clients’ called the ‘Tailor Birds’ appear. They love to hunt for insects which get disturbed by the watering ritual. They sing and dance, hop and skip and carry on chasing moths and worms, without bothering about my presence.   By then the Bulbuls and the Sparrows start lini...
17 comments
Read more