The writer recollects the story of a man from Udipi when he was a child. It was told that while going to school he would pray the Goddess for a pair of shoes. But the young boys like the son of the priest now wear shoes. The rag-pickers at her neighbourhood like Saheb remain barefoot. This exhibits the different phrases of society.

Once the writer meets a man from Udipi. About the shoes, he tells that as a young boy, he would daily go to school past an old temple. In his way he would stay there for sometime to pray to the goddess for a pair of shoes. His father was a priest at the temple. Finally, he got a pair of shoes and became contented.

Throughout the country, the authoress has seen the rag-pickers roaming about in the streets barefoot. More than 10,000 children of Seemapuri are engaged in their task of survival. On asking about not wearing chappals some reply that it is a tradition to stay barefoot. It is not the lack of money. The authoress feels that it is an excuse to “explain away a perpetual state of poverty.”

Tips: -

M. Imp.

Seemapuri is still in wilderness but it is no longer empty. In 1971 it was inhabited illegally by more than 10,000 rag-pickers from Bangladesh in 1971. It is on the periphery of Delhi yet it is miles away from it metaphorically. People live in structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin. It is devoid of sewage, drainage and running water. They have got ration cards for votes and buying grains. They have no identity. Women move in tattered saris. Survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking.

The writer comes across many barefoot rag-picker children. On asking about not wearing chappals, they offer very solid excuses. One answers that his mother has not brought them down from the shelf. Another points out that he will throw them if she brings. The third one replies that he has never owned a pair all his life. The writer concludes that walking across the country barefoot is a tradition.