SHOE STEALING PRACTICE IN KASHMIRI SOCIETY
Wherever a person is required to remove his shoes to enter a
religious place or sit for food in a gathering or attend some social obligation
where a large number of strangers are also present, he runs the risk of his
shoes being stolen. Shoe thefts are a worldwide phenomenon. You find shoe
thieves in Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia and America. They are active in hot
deserts and also in cool and temperate Mediterranean climates. It is practised
in churches, temples and mosques by people of all races and colours.No
caste, colour or religious divide exists for this adventure.
In India, a social sanction has been accorded to this practice in marriages
when shoes of the bridegroom are stolen by youngsters demanding cash in lieu
thereof.
SHOE THEFTS IN KASHMIRI SOCIETY
“ ' Tse yuunn vobaah. Tse pyon aata-shaq. Tse gatssienn dast
e kassiyaan . Hataa tse draaiyaa Holleijj . Tse goya phaallij. Guss tse gatchhinnaya Kaambal. Goya badanuss
Nosoor. Haa boot tchooro . Goyaa gaadi tal Khor ya boot
laagithh…. Pyokhaa *Ali Jaanus pyaath.
Guss tse tchatanyaa karan Nagareik doctor ** Bhanan hedrooniss munz yudd.Tse
nyoothha Mohd Sidiquss nov boot. Tse goya garuss loot. ‘ meaning
‘Let Cholera visit you. Let you fall prey to deadly syphilis. Let you
turn sick with blood dysentery. Let smallpox visit your body. Let a stroke
attack you. Let jaundice attack you. Let your body get incurable wounds. O, you
shoe thief! Let your feet be crushed under a vehicle when you wear these shoes.
Let you become a regular patient of Dr Ali Jan. Let Dr B M Bhan( Surgeon ) of
Karan Nagar open your tummy in Hedroon
hospital Srinagar. Did you steal
Mohammad Sidiq’s shoes? Let a gang of thieves loot your household.’
" This is what Sondher Ded, mother
of Mohammad Sidiq ( a
baker )
and our neighbour in Rainawari kept crying ( cursing the thief ) while
moving in the Mohalla lane for about two hours. Mohammad Sidiq’s shoes had been
stolen from a nearby mosque and Sondher Ded suspected that someone from
Khadija's family had stolen the new pair of shoes. She had also seen Khadija's
husband entering the mosque last of all. Khadija's family was comparatively
poor. Khadija's family also lived in the same Mohalla.
" ‘Kyaah maahra
kyaa chhuvaa Tchhaandaan . Me vanniv ‘.
meaning . ‘What are you looking for?
Sir, Tell me. ’ "
" ' Yemiss
maahra niyakh nava Bata chappien . Yettien
thhavein
paanuss paetkin ta beeth batuss. Khabar kuss phoruss. Ye
chhanass tchhenimitch nylon chappien thhavameth tamie badalah .’ meaning .. ‘Sir her new Bata sandals have
been stolen. She had safely put them outside the shamiana just where she sat
for the food. God knows who stole it. See the thief has kept a pair of old, worn out and abused cheap rubber sandals in place of her new
sandals.' "
" ‘ Traath
yimunn Chapni tsooran . Meharbaani kariv maahra ,taam kaddiv zudd . Pataa
vuchhav kyaah karav.’ meaning …’ Let
these thieves get burnt under lightning from the clouds. Please make some
temporary arrangement. Let me see what can be done later on. ‘
This is what the host told the sufferer in that marriage.
This is an actual incident in a Kashmiri
Pandit marriage lunch. I was joined by my colleague who had come along with his
mother. His mother had insisted that she be allowed to take her sandals inside
the marriage shamiana. Kashmiri Pandit ladies would generally sit over the
sandals or shoes of accompanying children and eat the food. While eating food, they would also repeatedly
ensure that the shoes or sandals were there despite holding them so close. Such
was the fear of losing your shoes or sandals in a marriage feast. I felt guilty
for suggesting the friend to place the sandals and shoes outside the shamiana .
I know about many incidents wherein shoes or sandals of my
relatives or friends were stolen outside some temples in Srinagar. The shoes of one of my friends were stolen
when he went to Nowhatta locality in downtown Srinagar city for offering his
condolences to some close relative’s family wherein a death had taken place. This friend told me
that he had to keep quiet and cover the distance barefooted back to his house
located in Ali kadal locality.
The practice of stealing shoes from mosques has not come to
halt in Kashmir. Many friends keep complaining about this issue privately. Shoe thieves in other social get-togethers/
events are also on a lookout for a good pair of branded or new shoes or
sandals.
I also know of a friend’s son in law who lost his new shoe
outside a temple in Janipur. The boy had come to his in-law’s house for a *** Phirsaal feast. The newlyweds were
suggested to visit a temple by his in-law’s family. And the poor fellow had to come back
barefooted.
To a large extent, shoe thefts have vanished from Kashmiri
Pandit marriage feasts because shoes are not to be removed any more after the
switch over to buffet system. Everybody consumes everything just standing and
moving for his turn.
And then I am always surprised to find how some unusual
second-hand stuff is sold in Sunday market of Kashmir. In Srinagar’s Sunday
market, you find second-hand clothes and, internationally branded jeans,
Chinese carpets, old Books,
quilts, Blankets and strange but
true, second-hand shoes of international brands like Nike, Adidas, Puma, Vans,
and Converse etc. for men and Rock And
Candy, Steve Madden, Saucony, Life Stride, Jelly Pop and Skechers etc.for
women.
‘ Aao aao. looto looto.
Bumbai ka maal .
Dekho apni chaal .
Farangi ne bejaa .
Paaanch sau mein le jaa.
Idhar Idhar .
Dekhataa kidhar .
O khan ! Joota pehchaan .
Thhuff ha sa thhuff .
Maashee Juff Juff.’
‘ Come ! Come !
Loot it ! Loot It !
This is Mumbai stuff
And see your style .
Europeans have sent it
Grab it just for five hundred rupees.
Here! Here !
Do not look anywhere .
O Khan, select a shoe for yourself.
A surprise gift .
Yes, a surprise gift.
Forget that old awkward gait.’
This is how the hawkers and footpath or charpoy traders in
Sunday market cry to attract onlookers and pedestrians for buying the
second-hand shoes in Kashmir. I asked a seller as to where from do these
second-hand shoes come. To this query, he replied that they buy bundles of this
stuff from traders in New Delhi or other places.
Plenty of this stuff is sold in Srinagar's Sunday market or otherwise on footpaths or in
Reddis by the hawkers. You need to select a good pair by putting your hand inside
the shoe heap. Pay anything from Rs 500 to Rs700 and carry home a shoe of an
international brand. It could be almost
a new pair.
Wherefrom do these shoes come? Could be stolen stuff from
Asian countries traded through a well-organized network? I am not sure . It
appears so. For sure these shoes have not been donated or given in charity for
brothers and sisters living in poor and developing countries by their affluent
well-wishers from developed countries. No Red Cross channel brings these shoes
as is generally talked about. some
newspaper reports on the subject may
clear
lurking doubts
I quote some
International newspaper reports on the subject
..
( 1 )Precautions for Tourists on “ Ooty Holidays And Tour
packages” brochure
“When you go into a temple, you have to leave your shoes
outside. A good security measure is to separate your shoes, so it will be
difficult for a thief to find both of them quickly. A shoe thief will not wear
one shoe while he is looking for the other. The best thing is not to bring
expensive shoes to temples at all, especially a good new pair of sneakers
(running shoes) or Birkenstocks.”
(2)Newspaper report 16.07.2008
“The 48-year-old man was caught by a local man who had seen
him loitering outside the Rayyan mosque in Qatar, reported Qatar daily ‘Gulf
Times’ on Wednesday.
After making his prayers, the Qatari had discovered his $100
shoes had gone missing and after walking barefoot to his car he again noticed
the Egyptian, this time carrying a bag about a kilometre from the scene of the
crime. When he was confronted, the thief threw the bag over a wall. Inside were
15 to 20 pairs of shoes valued at about $1400.’ the newspaper said.
(3)Newspaper Report
DATED 05.05.2013.
“Thieves target
temples all over Thailand and there's big money to be made on
second-hand shoes.”
(4)Newspaper report 30.06.2013.
‘Hollywood heart-throb Leonardo DiCaprio ( Titanic star )was
sightseeing in the country and joined a group of fellow Americans on a trip to
a hilltop temple in Kyoto, Japan. He was tense and upset when his shoes were
stolen. The poor guy had to leave the place barefoot.’
(5)Newspaper report 25.02.2010.
‘Shoes are stolen from outside all the popular shrines right
across India, including the dargah of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti
in Ajmer, Shirdi, Siddhivinayak and Ganesh temple in Titwala. Tour operators
running long-distance luxury buses, work in partnership with the hawkers. The
buses are used to transport the stolen shoes across the country.’
(6)Newspaper report 25.02.2010.
‘Across the world, a South Korean man has taken advantage of
the custom of leaving shoes outside, like a show of respect, before entering the
mourning rooms. Most mourners are dressed up and wear their best shoes. Police
recently arrested a man named Park
believed to be a master shoe thief in South Korea park would take off his shoes
before entering the mourning rooms, pretending to be one of the mourners. When
he left he would step into a more expensive pair of footwear and leave his old
shoes behind. The police arrested Park after his warehouse was raided. They
found 1200 pairs of shoes, carefully stored in sizes, ready for sale in a second-hand
shoe business in southern Seoul’s Sueso district.’
(7) A Report
in "DAILY
MONITOR" UK year 2013.
‘A friend once told me of several incidents of theft that
had taken place at their church in the city centre. “Last Sunday, while mummy
had left our pew for Holy Communion, a man came and picked up her bag claiming
she had asked him to keep it for her,” Jane narrated. She went on to say that
the man was accosted outside the church by ushers. “He was taken away to Police
and luckily, mummy’s bag was recovered.’
So, it is no secret that not everyone in a house of prayer
is a genuine worshipper. Let me conclude this post with couplets from Urdu
poets Nazir Akbarabaadi and Altaf Hussain Haali ( grandfather of noted
filmmaker late K A Abbas ) who were also victims of shoe thefts.
“Apne jooton se rahien sare namazi hoshiar
Ek buzurgh Aatey hain
masjid mein Khizr ki surat”.
( Altaf Hussain Hali )
(Those who come to offer namaz should take care of their
shoes.
An old man with the
countenance of **** Khizr comes and,
impliedly, steals them.)
And see what poet Nazir Akbarabaadi has to say on this
subject :
“Masjid bhi aadmi Nne banaayi hai yaan miyaan
Banatay hain aadmi hi Iimaam aur Khutb-Khwaan
Padtain hain aadmi hi quran aur nimaaz yaan
Aur aadmi hi unn ki churaatein hain jootiyaan
Jo unn ko
Taadataa hai so hai woh bhi aadami
khaaliq se ja milaa hai so hai woh bhi aadami
Jo naach Ddkhtaa hai so hai woh bhi aadmi…
( From Aadminaama by Nazir Akbarabaadi )
( Avtar Mota )
PS
* Dr Ali Jan was a widely respected physician of Kashmir
with great diagnostic skills.
** Dr Brij Mohan Bhan was a well-known surgeon from Kashmir.
*** Phirsaal is a feast arranged for the bridegroom by the
bride’s family immediately after the marriage. Generally, children accompany
the boy for this feast. This custom is practised by Muslims and Pandits of Kashmir.
**** Khizr is believed to be a righteous servant of God who
possesses great wisdom or mystic knowledge. This is a couplet by Altaf Hussain
Hali (1837-1914). Hali was about 20 years old then and had come from his
ancestral village in Panipat to a Delhi. Hali had the good fortune of
meeting Poet Mirza Ghalib before the
outbreak of the Mutiny.
