originally wrote this on Nov11-2017
He was a simple cobbler sitting on the sides of the street, along with all the sewage and dust, living about his life as happily as he can, oblivious to his surroundings and the world. He firmly believed the more he knows the more he needs to worry about things around him. He believed Ignorance to be pure bliss and lived by it. It was till that day he started realizing he has a unique super power he has ever known. He would start to become the person as soon he wears their shoes.
For a blissful cobbler ignorant about his world, he started becoming a little adventurous. One day he would be a taxi driver, going to places he could only imagine, with no one batting an eye and the other day he would become a tourist gaining all the unworthy attention from everyone surrounding him. For a person sitting next to the road mending shoes, attention and travel soon satiated. He wanted to up his game.
One day he got a college girl as customer which struck him deeply. In all the roles he took so far, he had always been a man and this was his chance to experiment with. He started to step outside the line and started wearing the girls shoes. First few minutes he felt very weird with both physically and psychologically. His first few experiences are the exact same that of any man would have when he becomes a female, basic instincts. Once when he returned to his normal senses he started walking down the road, crossing her college, when he started noticing eyes on him. Men ogling at her, spewing lewd comments and passing overtures for a date. At first he felt funny but soon the funny part vanished followed by a horror filled experience. Being surrounded by 4 men from her college, one started violently tearing her clothes. What followed was something he could have never imagined. He never thought there so much suffering and pain in the petty vengeance and luscious fantasies of brainless men. At the end of the act the guy in the center took one of her shoes tore it himself and threw it on her face. Thats when he realized why her shoes were torn in the first place and why she came to his shop.
With a heavy heart and enormous pain he started walking towards home, holding on the dress he barely had and her shoes. A few good men and women surrounding her rushed to her with clothes to cover up. As he reached home he left the girl and her shoes out and started to leave for his home. While sauntering back home he noticed a bold female police officer standing next to his shop waiting for him. The first sight of the police officer almost immediately triggered flight but he soon realized that she was in his shop to fix her slippers on her way home from duty. On seeing a bold female he was more inclined to mend his memories than her shoes. He stepped on her shoes and walked back his way to the officer's home. Soon after he started walking he started realizing contractions in his stomach. That quickly escalated to severe stomach ache. As soon as he reached home he had to use restroom soon to find himself in a pool of blood. The bold/strong police officer was going through her period cycle and this sight of bathroom encounter caused mild heart attack in him. His efforts to alleviate his past horror filled memories soon expanded to a new horizon. After recovering from the sight he saw, he stepped out to realize she was responsible for all the chores at home starting from cooking and cleaning. He was able to see the bold and brave appearance of the officer from outside but failed to realize the bravery inside him. He soon stepped out of the home, removed her shoes and silently started walking to his shop. He didn't venture to help her as he is both physically and mentally inept to do any of that.
Determined not to use his ability anymore he started walking back to his shop. On his way he found a pair of legs from a bush soon to realize that it was a fainting pregnant women. He tried looking around to find someone related to the women but in vain. Realizing his inability to carry her in his arms he decided to step on her shoes. When he stood up and started walking he realized she already had her water broke and was already going into labor. He started slowly walking towards the nearby hospital in an attempt to make this process a little bit more safe. After a few minutes of walking he realized that he could not make it in time and decided to take cover in the front porch of a hut. As her pain shot through the roof and with her hip bones expanding to leave way for the life to come to this earth, it was one of the most important day in his life when he realized the pain and suffering involved to bring a life to this earth. With enough assistance from women surrounding her he was able to get a local version of bath tub delivery with required sanitations and care. Once he came back to his senses he was given the life that came out of her. It was at this moment he began having second thoughts on whether he should remove her sandals or not.
He wished anyone objectifying women, denying equal rights to women, having prejudice on where and when she can go and be, having restrictions on what and how she must behave and punishing for mistakes done by the other gender, take a second to realize the hardship of being a women. He put himself in their shoes to see if they would ever see those. Oh well! Its just a wish.
Happy Birthday to one of the most strongest, bravest, most badass women I have ever known. Wishing a happy and fun filled birthday Sudha!