The Old Cobbler

After heading back to my office from the Cobbler's Kiosk, I thought I should write about it soon. But i'm writing about it after ages. It has touched me quite a lot and that's why its time to pen it down.

I once bought fancy looking slip ons from a posh place in Bangalore. I loved it and I almost wore it everyday to office. I also got compliments for it. After a while it wasn't so new so I would run with those slip ons , wear it in the rain and basically rough handled it. It so happened that one of them got torn. I was like.... "damn... we pay so much and it doensn't even last long!!!" Thankfully there was a small cobbler kiosk near my office, actually right opposite to my office. There was a middle aged man and I gave him my torn slip on. While he was mending it I remembered my childhood days. Back then we visited the cobblers quite often as against the present times where we have too many shoes and discard the torn ones immediately.

But I had no other go. I had to get back to work and there was no shoe shop close by and had to get my shoe mended.This middle aged cobbler made a shabby fix and asked me for ten rupees.I was not so happy to give him ten for the job he did but anyway he didn't ask for a fortune, it was just ten rupees.I gave it to him and got back to work.

A week later the other slip on got torn in the same place. I was cursing these shoe makers for making delicate shoes and tagging them with high prices. Again the same solution. I walked to the same cobbler kiosk.

Now this time there was a very old cobbler.He looked very weak, was wearing torn clothes and his glasses were so big that I almost concluded that he was blind.I thought this old cobbler might be the middle aged cobbler's father! Since I was unhappy the previous time I just thought I would ask this old cobbler to stitch it a bit more nicely but then I looked at his innocent face and something stopped me at once!!!

He started mending my slip on slowly.While he did that I peeked inside his kiosk. Saw some photos of God and a big photo of a lady who was young and vibrant. Her photo had kumkum and garland which meant she was no more. I was thinking whether she was the cobbler's wife or daughter. Who ever she was, she was someone dear to the cobbler. I felt quite bad for him. Then he interrupted me saying he mended my slip on.

I just had a look at it. It was done so well, so really well that I was taken aback. The half blind, weak cobbler wearing torn clothes and having the grief of losing an important woman in his life mended my shoe so well. I thought for a moment that if I had instructed him before I would've been ashamed of myself.I would've hurt his feelings so much!! I gave him ten rupees staight away. Then he said its only five rupees and started digging his box for change. I looked at him and said I don't want the change, smiled at him, said thank you and left. He was confused. While I was walking back to the office I had a great urge to go back to him and give him more money like a charity but he seemed like a shy old cobbler. I was unsure about him accepting it. But by giving him  more than what he asked for made me so contented.

When I sat on my chair at office I felt the old cobbler has touched my life by showing his perseverence, simplicity and innocence. I had tears in my eyes and then I worked peacefully.