ABSTRACT
As I sat down amongst a group of women from the slums of Madras, India, 1 my research assistant turned to me, saying, ‘They say you slippered an old man last week.’ ‘No! Where?’ I was confused as to what could be the basis for such a serious accusation, for in India the sole of the foot is one of the most polluted parts of the body, and one of the gravest insults is to be slapped with a used shoe. ‘At the bus stop.’ With these words the scene came flooding back. During the Friday rush hour I had been chatting with a woman at the bus stop. In a half-conscious way I was watching the mass of tired workers fight their way onto an already overpacked bus and in the scramble an obviously poor, middle-aged woman left one of her sandals behind on the road. Knowing that footwear is a luxury for the poor I rushed forward and, grabbing the sandal, slung it low onto the floor of the departing bus. Immediately I knew I had done the wrong thing, for people were staring and my companion quite clearly wished to distance herself from me. I was very relieved when several minutes later my bus took me away from this uncomfortable situation.
