Waterproof sandals? No fuckin way. They look hideous. That is what I used to think earlier and I could afford to think like that since I was not living in Bombay. After coming to Bombay and ruining a few pairs of shoes, I felt it was time for me to stop being a snob. I decided to buy a pair of sandals.

But stop being a snob is easier said than done. Buying a pair of sandals proved to be quite an exercise. I looked at the options I had. One option was the really hideous ones, the inexpensive plastic molded range which that included even a moccasin. I just couldn't imagine myself wearing those. The other option was the sandals by famous brands that were quite expensive and when you are thinking of paying a premium price, you want premium product, not just a plastic and rubber sandal.

I ended up buying a pair of nubuck sandals. They were very good. I wore them in the rains and they took the abuse pretty well. The only disadvantage was that they would take longer to dry as compared to the molded plastic variety. I think that was okay. After all the sandals were water resistant but they were not meant to endure being soaked in water everyday.

Last year, after I lowered my expectations a little and by some good product design by Bata, I managed to pick up a pair of sandals. They are okay and I don't mind wearing them as long as it is raining.

Then I found out about the crocs. They have been quite famous in the some parts of the world and now they are widely available in India. I thought that maybe for this monsoon I will buy a pair of crocs. This was till I saw them in the shoe store where I went to buy sandals for Manu.

The next door Bata shop was selling "Sandak" another molded plastic shoes for a range around 200 bucks. Since Crocks in an international brand and not originally made for Indian market and the fact that it came to India after it because quite famous, I was ready to pay a price around 500 bucks. But 1500! You got to be kidding me. I suddenly thought about all the people I have seen wearing Crocs and started wondering what they were thinking when they bought the Crocks. Did they felt the same as I did but still bought them because they were too embarrassed to not buy them just because of the high price? Did they knew feel the price was high and still bought them because you often see pics of celebrities wearing them or did they felt they were cool enough for the price? I was thinking about their reactions but Mira, who had not heard about them, gave me a very frank and honest opinion. “I instantly disliked them when I saw the odd coloured shoes.” she said “You are saying 500 bucks; I won't have bought them even for half the price.”