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Designs on your feet

Firdaus Ali

I can identify the sound of your feet. For it is through them that life is moving in my direction... - Indian scriptures.

And, while this ancient adage may hold true even today, there comes to Toronto, a unique exhibition, which has designs solely on your feet.

Titled 'Paduka: Feet and Footwear in the Indian Tradition', this exhibition goes beyond tracing footprints in the sand. It brings alive traditions of the land of ancient India where Buddha-pada (footprints of Buddha) first left their imprint and where Vishnu-pada (footprints of Vishnu) are worshipped even today.

'Paduka' is one of a series of exhibitions being organized and presented by the Bata Shoe Museum in North America. Besides 'Paduka', this particular expo includes: 'Japanese Footwear: Walking the Path of Innovation' and 'Herberts and Beth Levine: An American Pair' - both open till summer 2000.

As the name suggests 'Paduka,' is a collection of footwear and foot accessories ranging from the archaic mojaris to the latest, slickly designed shoes.

Paduka in Sanskrit means "of or related to the foot" and is often used to describe India's quintessential footwear, the toe-knob sandal or khadav as they are called.

"Feet are important because they form the genesis of human beings," says Sonja Bata, the brainchild behind the Bata Shoe Museum expo. Sonja along with committee members, comprising curators, collectors and authors, helped put the exhibition together.

The exhibition showcases feet beyond utilitarian and functional purposes and displays a collection of footwear and artefacts loaned from the National Museum in New Delhi and Musee National du Moyen Age in Paris.

The almost-extinct mojari makes an appearance in a big way. Perhaps, the most extravagant piece of its time, the bejeweled royal mojari made of canvas and velvet covered with gold embroidery (zardosi and salma sitara) is both ethnic and unique.

The oldest piece on display is a wooden platform sandal (Chandraketugarh, 2nd to 1st century, BC) for the left foot, which was excavated in West Bengal.

Some of the anklets featured in the exhibition are embellished with jingles and chains.

And, if potters and weavers formed an integral part of India's heritage of artisans -it was shoemakers, the trained and gifted craftsmen, that helped mould the Indian footwear according to evolution, need, style and climate.

So, you have chappals in Kolhapur, Maharashtra; jooties in Jodhpur in Rajasthan; kapulas (grass shoes) in Leh in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir; and boots in the Indo-Tibetan region of Sikkim.

The exhibition will continue in Toronto through September 2000.

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