Sometimes,
reading a news item really stumps you. It happened with me this
morning, when I read about the new dress regulations proscribed by
the Australian Airline Qantas for visitors who want to visit business
and club lounges in Australia's main airports. Calling it as "smart
casual" dress code, Qantas has decided that "Singlets,
bare feet, rubber thongs and clothing with offensive images or
slogans are, in most cases, likely to be deemed unacceptable."
While I had no problems in understanding what singlets are, ( in
India, we call them Baniyans), I was just flabbergasted about these
rubber thongs. For me, a Thong so far was a skimpiest underwear worn
by high-fashion beach loving females on sandy beaches though some
also preferred to wear it in day to day life. I felt that this Qantas
regulation was bit queer and weird because firstly it talked about
“Rubber Thongs.” I first could not understand why the heck anyone
would want to wear underwear made from rubber? and secondly why
wear it at the airport lounges of all the places? And above all, why
would Qantas be concerned about what people wore under their clothes?
So I
was off straight to Internet, what else? I found to my surprise, that
in Australia, Thong means something else, radically different. This
bit of information, for which I looked, says;
“ If
you were in Australia and you said thongs, it is not those skimpy
pieces of underwear and swimwear won by women, but are the basic
footwear, consisting of a sole and a thong passing between the first
and second toes of the feet and affixed in a Y formation on three
points to the sole”
So
Rubber thongs, banned by Qantas in airport lounges in Australia, were
nothing else but Flip-Flops or “ Hawaii Chappals” as known in
India. Flip-Flops happen to be the most popular footwear, worn by
tens of millions of people around the world. In India, “Chappals”
which are sandals without the rear strap, have always been the most
popular form of footwear even from ancient times. It suits the hot
Indian weather and can be easily removed as no one adorns foot wear
in homes or temples.
I
first came across these fancy looking rubber Chappals with a pair of
'Y' shaped straps, sometimes in 1950's, when one of my cousins,
brought one, while returning from US. I tried them and the comfort
and ease of wearing simply struck me. I could not hope to get a pair,
as no one made them in India. A few years later, “Bata” company
of India, first brought them out in the market, under brand name
“Hawaii” the name stuck and that is why they are still popularly
known as “Hawaii Chappals.” I must have immediately bought at
that time a pair because, as far as I remember, I have been wearing
these for more than five decades.
Flip-flops
have many local names such as thongs, jandals, pluggers, go-aheads,
slaps, slides, step-ins, chankla. They are a type of open-toed sandal
typically worn in casual situations. They consist of a flat sole held
loosely on the foot by a Y-shaped strap that passes between the first
and second toes and around either side of the foot. They may also be
held to the foot with a single strap over the top of the foot rather
than a thong. The name "flip-flop" originated because of
the sound that is made by slapping between the sole of the foot and
the floor when walking.
Flip-Flops
can not be considered as a very safe type of foot wear. They may be
fine on hot sand at the beach, or near community swimming pools, but
their simple design can cause a host of injuries of the foot and
lower leg. Walking for long periods in flip-flops can be very tough
on the feet, resulting in pain in the ankles, legs, and fee. Ankle
sprains or broken bones are also common injuries. But because, more
than often, Flip-Flops are used in the vicinity of water, chances of
slipping on wet surfaces really is the greatest risk. The British
National Health Service estimates that there must have been at least
200,000 flip-flop related injuries till 2010.
I had
my first accident with Flip Flops sometimes in 1964. I was walking
with wet Flip-flops and I slipped on a sooth surface of the tiles and
hit a baluster of a staircase railing. The fall was so hard that it
broke one of my lower ribs and it took me several months to recover
completely. Not deterred, I kept my love for the Flip-flops and
continued the use. There have been number of minor accidents for me
since then, because Flip flops skid easily on wet surfaces.
In
India, Flip-Flops go anywhere and everywhere although used as
household slippers, by more affluent people. It is the poor, who use
it as a full time wear everywhere, including work places. Several
years ago, when I was renovating my house, the contractor had erected
a bamboo scaffolding around the house. The masons and their
assistants all were wearing rubber Flip-flops and it was simply
amazing to see them climbing up the scaffolding with their Flip-flops
on with an ease as the footwear simply bent in any shape matching the
foothold. However, I did think that the workers were taking undue
risks, but no one seemed to be worried.
Around
six months ago, I consulted a foot specialist looking for cure of
some foot pain. During his interview, one of the first questions that
was asked to me was whether I used Flip-Flops at home. Naturally my
answer was affirmative. The foot specialist then plainly told me to
give up immediately any kind of footwork at home and walk barefoot.
This brought to an end my long association with this most popular
footwear of the world for keeps. I am now quite used to walk barefoot
in the house, but when I am travelling and stay in a hotel, I
terribly miss my old Flip-flops.
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