Vignettes

Use your feet!

by R. S. Karunaratne

In a country where we customarily respect religion, culture, parents and the elderly, we do not seem to respect and use our feet properly. Ever think of being born without feet. You will have to use a wheel-chair or crutches to carry yourself wherever you wish to go. Luckily most of us are born with feet and we take them for granted. While the villagefolk use their bare fet to the maximum, those who live in cities cover their feet with footwear and consider it infra dig to be in touch with the earth.

Any foreigner visiting our country would see how people use their bare feet to walk for miles on end, come rain or sun. They would walk along cobbled and ragged roads filled with jagged, often unseen perils. However, their feet do not show any signs of discomfort.

Meanwhile, some of us ape the West where people are obsessed with their feet. They use spiked heels, leather boots, shoes, sandals, and what not to pamper their feet. The use of nylon and cotton socks has added another burden. What happens when you use shoes and socks all the time, your feet become dry and colourless. What is more, when your feet do not get adequate sunlight and air, they begin to smell!

People in the West, born to pamper their feet, are worried about the distinctive odour coming out of their feet. The multinational drug companies and pedicure specialists have come to their help. In order to get rid of foot odour and discomfort they go for foot therapy and apply various brands of foot cream. But the foot odour remains.

The flourishing footwear industry is waiting to catch you out there. We are conditioned to buy fashionable footwear to compete with our neighbours. The competition is so high that we buy all types of footwear even when we do not really need them. Most schoolchildren are forced to wear shoes as part of their uniform. They wear footwear not only in the well-cemented classrooms but also for outdoor activities such as sports including swimming. So they naturally become soft-footed men and women in their adult life. However, if you walk into a remote village you will see how students come to school bare footed.

Those who use their own vehicles can be seen rushing to the bank or to the market even when these places are just a few metres away from their homes. Sometimes, they think that if they walk on the road others might get the impression that they are poor. In fact, poor people walk and live longer than their city counterparts.

Those who do not wish to use their feet too much prefer escalators and lifts to flights of steps. On the other hand, you can enter a church without removing your footwear. However, it is the normal practice to remove your shoes before entering a Buddhist temple or Hindu kovil.

If you travel in India, even some non-religious places demand that you remove your shoes before entering.

The meaning of walking barefooted has not been understood fully by most of us. When you walk bare footed you are always in contact with Mother Earth. When you do so, sometimes you may have to forgo some of the logical beauty of feet. Logic has designed highways to travel on but their instabilities remain hidden. Even though you might get your feet cracked, you gain strength in character when you walk bare footed.

Look at street children who use their feet to walk, play and fight. Even if you give them shoes I do not think that they would wear them.

Their feet are so accustomed to walk on rough and hot macadamized roads in the city without developing any physical discomfort. But the sophisticated children in the city cannot run or even swim without shoes!

In one of my trips to India I met a Sadhu who used to walk barefooted. When I questioned him, he said that he walked bare footed because he got natural energy flowing from the earth. It may not be practical to go barefooted to offices and other workplaces in modern cities. However, if you care for your feet you will have to find some time to remove your shoes and walk on the roads and parks. If you constantly use your feet this way there will be no necessity to visit beauticians who do all kinds of foot therapy and massage.We pay homage to the Buddha and Jesus Christ because they used their bare feet to reach their followers. Buddhists worship the Buddha's footprint on top of Sri Pada because they know the value of His feet.

Wear shoes if you cannot do without them. Go bare footed and enjoy life to the full!