Brands,Brands and Brands...
Being a miser on spending money on branded products, i use to criticize my pals who had everlasting attraction on brands. Along with criticising them i use to give a free lecture on how these branded products will hamper our country's economy and blah,blah,blah. One fine day i thought of buying a branded sandals(It was in 2007). We (me, Bhayya, psycho) came all the way from tumkur to get sandals from bangalore, though tumkur is district headquarter there were no showrooms of brands like nike, reebook, puma,adi and woodlands. we went to marathahalli where all leading complanies have their showrooms and there will be discount sale throughout the year.
We hoped from showroom to showroom in search for sandals which i have to buy. After two and half hours of window shooping i finally zeroed on nike sandals worth of 2700 INR. After buying the sandals only the real funda started. Next day i sported my new sandals along with socks and went to college. Everyone in the college praised my sandals and some guys asked the rate, when i told them they laughed at me and expalined that its not worth of giving 2700rs for a pair of sandals. I argued with them to defend my decision of buying it, I explained them 'how it is worth?' and its durability. Some guys retaliated by saying "how will you wear same sandals for almost 2 years?' actually speaking the later question baffled me to give them a answer. Some guys asked me "how many pairs u got for 2700rs ( to annoy me)?".
I fell in love with my sandals as the tym passed, started washing sandals every fortnight . Everything was fine untill i lost those in my native.I went for semester holidays to my native, there also i got accolades on my sandals, but i didnt told anybody the real price of it to anyone (fearing that they may see as a prodigal child). I went to a temple in my native along with my grandma where my brother was performing rituals to go to Shabrimala. When a wore sandals my grandma asked "why sandals is required while going to temple?" i went in bike along with her, i didnt answered her question. I left the sandals outisde the shrine and went inside , i was two persons in the temple premises when poojas were going on. One guy who was working in our farmland some years back, i replied him with a smile to him. His name was kumara who was a malingerer and congenital alcoholic . He was fascinated by tablets and syrups, whenever i came to my home to take his salary he use to ask us the tablets anmd syrups which were kept in the hall. He used to take those without any illness. Till today i am not able understand his personality. Another person in the temple premises i saw was a person whom i had never seen before in my native. The pooja rituals were over after an hour, after that i came outside the shrine and my sandals were stolen.When i told everyone about that issue they told "let it be, you have lost all the sins u have made(according to hindus, if your sandals are stolen in temple it is like loosing all the sins thay had committed), its a gud omen". I was fuming with anger and thinking what rubbish belief is this ?, i have lost sandals of worth 2700rs within 2months of buying. My brother and his cotravellers(swamis) went off from temple in their chervolet travera. I told my grandma to go in auto to house and i took my byk and roamed in all the main roads in my native looking at everyone's feet, whether they are weari ng my sandals. I failed to catch the culprit, and went back to my home after 2 hours of roaming in my native looking at foot of the people who came across my path . I suspected that kumara-the malingerer as the culprit and made a call to the manager of my farmland to get his detials(as he was not working with us), but he also failed to track him. 2700INR lost in a vain. When went to college after everyone laughed at me by hearing this story. After loosing nike sandals they came in my dreams, it was like a nightmareto me. I was obsessed with those sandals.
After this saga i bought a new reebok sandals, they were with for allmost one and half year. Then weared out, this tym i wentn for puma. They were with me for a short period of time, as i lost those in a temple in shimoga. I went to shimoga for my eye-checkup, after the appointment with doctor i was on the way to bus stand. I heard bells ringing in a temple nearby , and it was ganapathi temple. I went near the temple premises to pay prayer, while leaving my slippers i saw a board "beware of sandals and shoe burglars" i neglected that message as it was morning and enter inside the shrine. While doing pradaksine and praying the god my atttention and thoughts were on my sandals i had left outside. In a hurry i did all the prayers and went oustide thinking that "what if anyone had stolen my sandals?", my thinking was right someone had stolen my sandals. I got a auto and told the driver to go a nearby bata showroom ( there were brands showroom in shimoga), there i didnt felt like wearing a bata sandals, for time being a purchased a slipper of worth 80 bucks and went to my native. Again i heard the same old phrase " let it be, u have lost all the sins by loosing ur sandals". After this incident i didnt purchased sandals, now i have bata formal shoe and a woodland shoe.
If you once start using branded products you will never go to other local brands. but its worth paying for a brand. The way the people look at you will change if you were wearing a branded accessories, for that reason i prefer brands.
Nowadays i will enter the shrine if there are sandal stand and a person to look after it is there. Being a pious person i pay more than 40rs per month for the person who takes care of my sandals in temples.
