THE COBBLER

There were no cobblers in this Island and people were not in the habit of wearing footwear those days. My grandfather used to wear wooden slippers, locally called ‘Methiyati,’ made of planks of Karinnotta, Samadera indica, (Karingatta) tree, with a single brass nail or needle. This provided adequate grip between the big toe and the second toe.  Since heels are a little high, adequate practice is necessary to use it.  If not used with deftness, there is every chance for the person to go for a toss and have his legs dislocated. As a young boy I used to walk majestically with his slippers and his baton, which was a cane bound  with brass ends.

 Ravunni, a cobbler, who had a mini shoe shop at Broadway, Ernakulam, adjoining to Bharath Coffee House was known to ‘Appachan’. Whenever we passed through Broadway he would try to persuade ‘Appachan’, to get us children good leather footwear. One day, when he came to Kumbalam, ‘Appachan’ asked him to take our feet measurements. After a few weeks he came home with two pairs of leather footwear. We were so happy. It was much later the rubber and plastic slippers and footwear stormed the market.

Excerpts from

MEMOIRS

An autobiography

by

Joseph J. Thayamkeril

Lawyer, Kochi, Kerala, India.

josephjthayamkeril.blogspot.com

josephjthayamkeril@gmail.com