High Heels or Not

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Clickety-click, clickety-clack. Do I want to be the cat with the bell? Do I want to announce my arrival at each floor? Will I eventually get used to heads popping up as I head for the printer?

A strange and unexpected dilemma faces me in my new workplace - my company's India office in Delhi.  Should I wear high heels to work or not? Actually they are not even that high. They aren't stilettos or tall block heels mainly because I can't even walk properly on a carpet in stilettos. They are just a pair of mid-heel, smart shoes. The kind that I always wanted to wear but couldn't in my erstwhile life in the land-of-good-public-transport-to which-one-must-constantly-sprint, i.e. London. (I'm still rooting for good public transport btw!) But coming back to heels, its surprising how much noise they make on a non-carpeted office floor. Even more surprising is the medley of men on the floor who turn around from their screens to see who's approaching. This happens every day, every time I pass by. Even trips to the loo are no longer discreet.

Maybe this head-turning is a male reflex action. Like a lion in the jungle tunes his ear to hear a lioness, perhaps the urban male is tuning it to the sound of heels. This of course makes it even more important for women to wear them - once you are sure you are attracting the right kind of males that is.

Now I'm not one to get fazed too easily, so I tried different types of heels and discovered, no surprise, that some are less noisy than others. Hence I decided to wear the less clickety-clack ones for a bit. But as every girl knows certain shoes go with certain outfits and even on 'I-really-can't be-bothered-to-dress-today' days I couldn't force myself to wear the dull gold ones with the grey trousers (horror). I found myself back in my grumpy and defensive mode. I considered going to the shoe therapist. Okay I'm sure they exist. I mean all those girls who bought Manolo Blahniks after watching SATC thinking this will change their life probably need a lot of therapy right now.

After much thought and deliberation finally one day I got up and thought- do I really care? This is but a passing phase in my life. I love my sneakers too much to think of heels in any long-term way. So here's to HEELS- high or low or non-existent. Another little flag for women's choice, freedom, 'female emancipation' and suchlike. I hereby decide to wear any shoes, or no shoes (!) with complete flair and confidence and an invisible 'I am ignoring all those stares' shield.
:-D

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 14, 2009 at 11:30 AM

    Keep on wearing those heels, Babes!

    Virginie:)

    ReplyDelete

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