A week ago my mom reminded me of “Hawaii chappals” – those
fancy flip-flops that were once famous in India and neighborhoods. Her story of
the chappals of early 70s was a droll. Her father finally decided to buy her a
pair of sandals – Hawaii chappals by default as there was no other option
available. Generally chappals in 70’s india would travel through generations. Mother
would use it and pass it over to eldest daughter, which she then passed it to
her sister, then the same slippers went to her younger brother and this relay
was kept alive until the sandals were completely worn out after several
attempts of fastening it with safety pins from its bottom.
How about this? Assume this elder brother at home had an
interview and his younger sister had to go out with her friends at the same
time, the Hawaii chappal would go with the brother who had interview to attend
as these chappals were less important for someone who had to go around with
friends. This was clearly a matter of resource utilization; don’t mistake this
to male chauvinism.
My mom got her Rs.6 chappals after two years of super
tramping without slippers. It would go
on with any dress that she wore. The same slippers she wore to the school, to
shops, to weddings and (riotously chuckling) even to work. Imagine getting
decked up in suit and Hawaii chappals.
At a wedding, women were clad in silk saris, men in silk
dhotis and kids in fancy new clothes but everyone commonly in Hawaii chappals -
thanks to its unisex designs. People would create mayhem in the evening of a
wedding by mixing up the chappals. The smart ones would mark up the soles of
their pale blue sandals with ink blots or some identification with markers. A
60 year old guy would finally disentangle a bout by giving a verdict “look!
There is a safety pin under the slipper. I am sure this belongs to the lady in
red”.
Goodness India, a place for insane humility and simplicity,
the tradition of Hawaii chappals is still prevalent. I have used them until I
was 10 years and I was able to relate to my mom when she told me the story. I
don’t know if this makes sense to Y2K kids. I don’t remember how many times I
witnessed people on the roads busily mending their chappals and all it took was
to force the button like rubber on the strap into the hole in the sole. If it was
raining, a person’s back with cheetah like spots made of sludge on their
clothes was common sight. For a lover who is proposing to a stranger woman
would face an insult if he got slapped with Hawaii chappals.
Globalization to me meant no more pins on my worn out Hawaii
chappals. I would rather throw it and buy a new pair of them across the road
from a hawker. But all that was only
until a decade ago. Today I wear sandals that costs me a couple of grands but I am not able to feel proud about it. On the other hand I am not able to
wear those legendary Hawaii chappals and feel the fun fearing what people would
think of me.
Putting aside my brooding thoughts about the forgotten
Hawaii chappals I went into wiki to see where they got the name ‘Hawaii’ from.
My thought was that these chappals were imported from Hawaii which is known for
its beaches. But I was completely wrong. “Hawaii” chappals are not really
Hawaii chappals. They were simply Hawai chappals – in Hindi it means airy.
Not even from Hawaii yet so popular. I record my apologies to
have disregarded Hawai chappals which was once someone’s dream. I wish there
was a day called ‘Hawai Day’ where people be allowed to wear Hawai chappals on
anything and to anywhere as a mark of respect for so many old Indians who
mostly went barefoot and saved their priced possession - Hawai chappals - for
those special days?
