Jhumroo was a thirteen year old girl. Her father was a cobbler who had a small shop at the roadside of a village. Jhumroo's home was just behind the shop. Her father used to make slippers, sandals and shoes, and sell them. He also repaired old shoes and shine them when customers wanted so.
As a child, Jhumroo used to run errands for her father and assist him in his work. Jhumroo used to take care of the shop when he would go home to have his lunch. During the summer season when her school timing changed to morning, she got more time to spend in the shop with him. She was keenly interested in making of the shoes. It fascinated her how a flat sheet of leather took shape into shoes. Soon, she had learnt all about the shoe- making techniques and even had tried her hand when her father was away. Almost once a fortnight, her father used to go to the nearest market, which was ten Kilometre away, to buy leather. Those days, he used to leave the responsibility of the shop completely on Jhumroo. Jhumroo was always pondering over different types of shoes. Shoes that children can wear while playing, shoes that people can wear when it rains, shoes that ladies can wear to go to the market, and glittering shoes that brides and grooms can wear in their weddings. In her mind, she used to think of the various designs and make the drawings in her notebook.
She wanted to make cheap and comfortable footwear for labourers. The first thing that she would notice in anyone was the footwear. She was so passionate with footwear that she used to remember people by their shoes. Even after a lapse of time, she could exactly tell you what the village headman wore when he had come to the last meeting and what each of her school teachers were wearing.
Jhumroo though, was surprised to note that in monthly meetings, besides the headman and a few people, none of the villagers wore any footwear. She was also amazed to see all the ladies of her neighbourhood used to walk barefoot to the market, to fetch water, and wherever they went. She failed to understand why only a few could wear footwear and the rest could not. She raised her concern to her father and asked him why they all did not wear footwear. Her father made her understand that mostly these villagers lack money to either buy or get a pair of shoes made. So they did not have any footwear. Knowing the reason Jhumroo, as she was interested in shoes, started thinking on the lines of designing footwear to meet everyone's need and at the same time, not be costly for them to buy. She did find out ways to do it and shared her idea with her father. Hearing this he got very angry with Jhumroo and asked her to concentrate on her studies rather than wasting time in futile thoughts.
Jhumroo though did not get discouraged by her father's scolding and started making drawings and writing specifications of various shoes. She also worked out a feasible costing along with the designs to match them with the buying capacity of the villagers. She also thought about alternate materials to use in footwear making the cost lower . She was very excited to translate her ideas into reality. At times she would sneak into her father's workshop and practice making samples of her designs from the throwaway leather. She had actually made many odds of various designs and collected them in her cupboard.
Jhumroo was an intelligent child. She was good in her studies and always stood third in her class. Her father wanted her to concentrate on her study and not to take interest in his shop. He was not an educated person, but he wanted his only child to study and become somebody. As Jhumroo was a girl, he never wanted her to adopt his profession and become a cobbler. But as she was his only child, he had to take her help sometimes. He did not know that Jhumroo was inherently interested in shoemaking. She had already learnt the craft of making shoes by observing and assisting her father.
Once, an interschool racing competition was announced. It was to be held at a school in a neighbouring village. Jhumroo's class friend Suggi was nominated to participate in the race on behalf of her school. Suggi was a good runner and used to practice for the race getting up early in the morning and running in the playground. One morning while she was returning home after the practice, she saw that Jhumroo was opening the shop of her father. She came close to Jhumroo while Jhumroo was busy putting the key into the keyhole of the lock. Jhumroo also saw her friend coming towards her and greeted her with a smile. “Hello Suggi! How come you are here at this hour?” Jhumroo asked. “Hi, I am practicing for the race, you know, I am going to participate on behalf of our school.” Suggi said very proudly. “Now-a-days I get up very early in the morning and run in the playground of our school.” Jhumroo looked at her feet and exclaimed “But you are barefoot, not wearing any shoes!” Hearing this, Suggi felt let down. Then she cribbed that her feet ached a lot as she had been running for many days without any shoes and at times her feet got hurt by pebbles and stones on the way. She also said that it had become really difficult for her to carry on like that. “But you know you will have to compete with other participants who would be well prepared to run with sports shoes. These shoes give your feet comforts and also provide proper grip to speed up while running.” Jhumroo was enjoying herself bragging about her knowledge of shoes. “I know about all those shoes.” Suggi replied, “My father has promised me that he will arrange some money in a week's time and buy me a pair of shoes from the nearby market. But sadly I know that he would surely not be able to get me those sport shoes.” She informed Suggi, “Even if you get your new shoes on the day of the race, you know, you will not feel comfortable with them and may end up running slower than you normally do.” Jhumroo added, “I think you must get accustomed to wearing shoes first then only can you run comfortably in it.” Knowing all this Suggi felt really bad and less confident. She sat with a thud on the bench kept before the Shop.
Jhumroo could squarely understand Suggi's problem. She put her hand on Suggi's shoulder and offered her a glass of water. Jhumroo also sat down beside her and tried to console Suggi. She said that things would be sorted out and they would certainly find a way out of this situation. Jhumroo took a deep breath and said, “If you trust me, I can make a pair of shoes for you.” Hearing this Suggi forgot her problem and burst into laughter as if someone had cracked a joke. She was not able to control herself and was laughing madly clutching her stomach. She could not believe her ears. Meanwhile, Jhumroo was waiting patiently. Once Suggi's laughter subsided, Jhumroo said firmly, “If you have had enough of laughing, listen to me carefully.” Suggi controlled herself and looked towards Jhumroo. Jhumroo spoke in a questioning manner. “Look Suggi, you do not have any other option, do you?” She paused for a while and continued to tell her, “Trust me. You will have your new shoes in two days.” Suggi queried, “But, How?” Jhumroo explained, “See you father does not have enough money to buy you an expensive pair of new sport shoes, but whatever money he has, I think that would be enough to buy raw materials for your shoes. I will make a pair of comfortable sports shoes for you and will not even charge any money for making it. All you need to do is to convince your father to give you the money which he has kept aside for your shoes." Suggi had started listening to Jhumroo. Suggi wanted to know how and when they can go to the market to procure raw materials.
Jhumroo calmed her saying, “I have accompanied my father a number of times to the market and I know where the shops are.” Suggui quipped, “But we have our school to attend, how will we go to the market?” Jhumroo said, “We will directly head towards the market just after our school and try to finish our work fast to come back home before dusk.” Suggi asked, “What will we tell our mothers?” Jhumroo smiled and answered, “We will tell them that we need to work together to complete some tasks.” Suggi agreed. Both the girls smiled to each other at having found a solution to the problem.
But there were many challenges yet to overcome and Suggi was still not very confident about Jhumroo's footwear making skill. However, she had no choice but to believe and have faith.
Suggi went home and saw her father leaving for work. He was an auto driver and every day he needed to go to nearby town to ferry passengers there. Suggi approached him and asked, “Baba, can you please lend me some money to get a pair of sports shoes?” He got annoyed as he was hurrying for his work and said, “Don't bother me now, as I told you, I will give you your shoes after a week. I do not have enough money now”. Suggi put forward her request again, saying it would cost much lesser as she would get her shoes made. Hearing this father retorted her not to get involved in silly ideas and left for his work.
Suggi met Jhumroo at school and informed her that her father had refused to give money. She would not be able to run efficiently in the race now. Suggi was crestfallen. Jhumroo also got worried and was thinking about how to convince Suggi's father to lend them money for the shoes. Jhumroo asked Suggi, “Hey, tell me what does your father like most to eat.” Suggi got furious and shouted, “what does it has to do with our shoes?” Jhumroo smiled and said, “You get his favorite food made in the evening and when he would be happily eating we will cajole him to give us the money.”
Suggi pestered her mother to make his favorite fish curry in the evening and also asked Jhumroo to join them for dinner. While all of them were eating Jhumroo very pleasantly inquired about how was his day. When he got talking, Jhumroo requested him to give the money, saying, “Uncle How happy and proud you will feel if Suggi wins the race. But she cannot participate without proper shoes. Uncle, I know that good sports shoes will surely cost around Rs. 500. I know a cobbler who will make the same shoes in Rs. 100. Please give us money for the shoes.” Suggi’s father told them that it was not their cup of tea to get work done from their elders. He said, “I have promised Suggi that I will give her shoes after a couple of days.” Jhumroo politely added, “I will take assistance from my father also and please be assured that we will not be cheated of the money.” Suggi's father nodded. Taking a cue from this Jhumroo elaborated, “Uncle, if Suggi will get shoes on the day of the race, she will not be comfortable in her new shoes and will not be able to run fast. She needs to practice in her new shoes for a few days to get adjusted to them.” Suggis father got convinced by Jhumroo's arguments and agreed to give Suggi the money. The girls looked at each other and smiles. The fish curry tasted all the more delicious to them.
Next day, immediately after the school got over, both the girls set out on their excursion. Jhumroo led the way and quickly gathered everything required to make sports shoes. Within two hours the girls had hurriedly reached their homes. All the footwear making stuffs were with Jhumroo. While leaving for home Suggi looked at Jhumroo expectantly.
Jhumroo said reassuringly, “Don't worry my dear! You will do your practice in your new shoes tomorrow. You think about running and winning the race and leave the problem of shoes with me.” Suggi felt a little upbeat and waved her friend goodbye and good luck.
Jhumroo excited as she was, but knew well the responsibility that she had taken. She could not fail her friend and wanted to ensure that her shoes were good for the purpose she was making them for.
In the late evening, preoccupied with these thoughts, Jhumroo quickly completed her work and pretended to go to bed very early. When everyone went to bed, she clandestinely moved towards her father's workshop. She started working. In no time she realized that the thud thud sound was loud enough to wake her parents up. Jhumroo did not want them to know a word about it as her father was very much against it. She had to stop working immediately and rushed back to her bed to sleep. However, sleep was miles away from her as she could not stop thinking about how and when would she make the shoes. She was at the same time worried about how she would face her friend without the shoes which she had promised to make. Sleep eluded her and she was not able to find a way out of this situation. She was also very remorseful of having agreed to make shoes without properly thinking through it. On the other hand, Suggi also could not sleep as she was very excited for her new shoes. For Suggi, excitement was also bordering with concern.
Early in the morning Suggi came running to meet Jhumroo. Jhumroo was waiting outside her closed shop. Suggi excitedly asked, “Show me my shoes. I am dying to try them.” Jhumroo was unusually quiet and was looking downwards. When Suggi nudged her and repeatedly asked about her shoes, Jhumroo looked up with a long face. She slowly uttered, “I am sorry, I could not make your shoes last night.” Hearing this Suggi shouted, “What! You have not made my shoes!! Oh! You promised and said with all certainty that I would get my shoes today.” Jhumroo was embarrassed and clueless as to how to make Suggi understand her problem. Jhumroo mumbled, “I could not as ….”. Without even letting Jhumroo complete her sentence Suggi started shouting at her, “You are a cheat, a liar. You did not keep your promise. Now what will I do? My father will be angry and will not even get me any shoes.” She started sobbing, “I was a fool. I should not have trusted you. You have let me down.” Jhumroo was really very sorry. She came closer to her and explained the last night's problem. Both the girls were feeling sad and defeated. Jhumroo was all the gloomier as she had lost the only chance she got to make real shoes. Suggi expressed her worry about what she would do if her father would ask about the shoes when he would come back the next day. Hearing this, suddenly Jhumroo remembered a snap of her parent's conversation about her father leaving for another village today for some work. Her face brightened and she decided that she would start working the moment her father leaves for his work. Jhumroo looked at Suggi and quite reassuringly told her, “My father is going today and I will get time to make your shoes. Suggi, Please trust me, I will for sure make your shoes today.” Sage was full of doubts, but she wanted to give Jhumroo this last chance. She pleaded with Jhumroo, “Please try to complete today. You know I have only a few days to practice.”
After school, Jhumroo was in a mad rush to reach her workshop and start making the shoes. Luckily, there were less customers and she focused with an aim to complete faster. By the evening she had the shoes ready, but they needed to be dried for some hours to be properly fixed. The shoes were really very good, Jhumroo happily muttered, “Wow, so nice!” She looked at the shoes admiringly as they were her first real shoes. She hid the shoes; and humming a song went towards her home. After having dinner Jhumroo went to sleep feeling happy about the fact that one of the shoes of her dreams have been made and the joy of creating them was overwhelming.
The next morning she was waiting eagerly for Suggi at her shop. After pacing the shop to and fro for some time Jhumroo spotted Suggi walking clumsily towards her. Jhumroo could not wait for Suggi to walk up to her and dangled the shoes in her hands. Suggi came running to her. Looking at the shoes she started jumping with joy. Suggi tried her shoes then and there, which fitted her well. She felt very comfortable in the shoes and thanked Jhumroo profusely. Suggi ran wearing her new shoes for practice.
In the race Suggi came first. Suggi became famous in her school as well as in her village. Everyone in her school noticed her shoes and inquired about them. Suggi very nicely told then the shoes were made by Jhumroo. In the facilitation ceremony at school, Suggi openly credited her victory to Jhumroo saying, “I would not have won the race had Jhumroo not made a pair of sports shoes for me in time. I whole heartedly thank her for her support.” Jhumroo also suddenly got her moment of fame and her craft got recognition. Everyone in the village was praising her work. Jhumroo's father was flooded with praises for his daughter wherever he went. He was feeling very happy and nice about it.
Now, whenever anyone praised Jhumroo for her work, she would promptly tell them that she could also make affordable and durable footwear for everyone. Many villagers heard this and one day one of her neighbours, Rahim Chacha who was a rickshaw puller came to Jhumroo to ask if she could make something for him. Jhumroo lost no time and immediately said yes to him. He could not spend more than Rs. 25 and wanted to know if there could be footwear for him. There was a tyre repair shop in front of her father's shop. Jhumroo bought a piece of used tyre and made a pair of sandals for him within his budget. Rahim Chacha's happiness knew no bounds. He thanked her a lot and also spoke about her sandals to everyone he knew and did not.
Jhumroo's name and craft was something people loved to talk about and had become exemplary. One day the ladies were chatting and were talking about Jhumroo at a well. One of the old ladies, Mangla Chachi, who was fondly nicknamed as ‘All India Radio’ mentioned that she wished if Jhumroo could also help her with a pair of slippers as her heels ached a lot. The ladies suggested Mangla Chachi to approach Jhumroo and request her to make footwear for her. Hesitantly, Mangla Chachi came to Jhumroo and told her about her footwear need. Jhumroo happily accepted. In no time Mangla Chachi was prancing around in the village with her new slippers. She had become the advocate of Jhumroo's craftsmanship.
Jhumroo's father had been quietly listening to all her praises and wanted to speak to Jhumroo. One night as they were having dinner, he very lovingly asked Jhumroo about her ideas of making affordable and durable footwear. Jhumroo felt happy of being recognized by her father also. She told him about her cost effective ways of making shoes.
Jhumroo's father had allowed her to work in his shop in her free time. People had started pouring to the shop and asked Jhumroo to make shoes for them. Jhumroo and her father were flooded with demands and in no time almost all her villagers were wearing footwear made in her father's shop. Jhumroo's dream had come true and she was very elated about it.
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Author's Note:- My effort to write an inspirational story for children. Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer:- All characters and events in this story are fictional and any resemblance is purely coincidental.
