My good brown shoes
are in need of repair.
My work shoes.
I bought them in
London only last year and they were very expensive. The sole on one of my shoes
has separated at the heel.
It is the left
shoe.
These shoes are
English.
There is a long
history of soul separation with the English. I know this because I have
witnessed it first hand.
More than once.
My brown shoes are
very comfortable but the workmanship in the manufacture of them was obviously
poor. My shoe repairman here in Singapore has confirmed this.
This afternoon I
took my shoes to Mr. Santosh.
He has a small
shop on Ballister Road, which is not too far from my house.
It is but a short
bicycle ride away.
Mr. Santosh has
repaired shoes for me before - and when he looked at the sole separation that
had occurred on my left shoe he told me that he was not impressed with the
stitching.
He told me that it
was inferior in quality.
Mr. Santosh was
not at all impressed with the workmanship.
Mr. Santosh works
in his little shop on Ballister Road seven days a week.
The name Santosh
means 'happiness' in Hindi.
I find this most appropriate,
as Mr. Santosh is always very happy when I see him. He beamed when I walked
into his shop today. He rushed from behind his workbench to shake my hand.
Both my hands in
fact.
"Good day
to you Mr. Peter. You are be getting fatter" he said.
"Good day
to you Mr. Santosh". I
replied.
"Yes I am
indeed be getting fatter."
He refers to me as
"Mr. Peter" and I always refer to him as 'Mr. Santosh'.
There is mutual
respect and politeness in our relationship.
When I handed him
my damaged shoe he looked at it and he tut tutted. I explained that they were
English and he nodded knowingly.
Mr. Santosh has a
wife who also works in their small shop.
She is a
seamstress.
She has repaired
clothes for me in the past. She has taken up the hems of my trousers and she
has sewn new buttons on my old shirts.
Her name is
Mihika.
The English
translation of this name is "Dew drops". Santosh and Mihika have a
daughter whose name is Venya. The name Venya means "lovable' in Hindi. I
like the translation of many Hindi names. I like them a lot.
They exude
meaning.
They convey love.
I have not met
Venya before as she is studying in the US - at NYU. She is going to be a Human
Rights lawyer. Santosh and Mihika are very proud of Venya and quite rightly so.
Everything they do is for her. Everything that they have ever done is for her.
She is their
Everything.
Their eyes light
up when they talk about their daughter. They have shown me many photos of her and
there are quite a few of her tacked to the wall above Mr. Santosh workbench.
She is always
smiling in these pictures.
I asked Mr.
Santosh how Venya was doing in New York - while he was inspecting my shoes.
Still tut tutting.
"Venya is
being doing very well Mr. Peter sir,” he told me.
Mr. Santosh told
me this with a little wobble of his head and I could see him beginning to swell
with pride.
"She has
been doing her final exams in June and then she will be graduating", he told me.
"And then
she will be coming home?" I asked.
"We are
being hoping so Mr. Peter. We are being hoping so that she will be coming home"
Mr. Santosh thinks
that it is wise to re-glue and then stitch up the soles of both shoes - even
though it is only the left one that is damaged. I thought this might be the
case so I brought both with me.
They will be ready
on Wednesday.
They
will be better than new.
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