
An Indian village that banned shoes - MiriamWeiner
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190307-the-tiny-indian-village-that-banned-shoes
======
wtmt
> “In a country where people often go barefoot indoors – considering it a
> gesture of respect and a nod to hygiene...“

It’s not “often”, but “almost always”. It’s highly uncommon to wear footwear
indoors (except in cold places where people have a separate set of footwear
for indoor use).

In India footwear that’s been outside the house is considered dirty and
unhygienic. It’s also disrespectful to wear it inside another person’s home or
at temples. People would even avoid, whenever possible, carrying their
footwear in hand (like in this village) or wash their hands well once they put
the footwear down.

Culturally, one way to insult someone deeply in public in India is to hit them
with one’s footwear (usually slippers). It’s also common, at least in some
movies, that a girl who’s been harassed by a guy usually beats him up with her
slippers. There have even been political incidents where someone who’s against
a politician has thrown shoes or slippers at them at public gatherings
(sometimes this has happened in the legislative assemblies too, where people
from rival parties have done it to each other). This kind of usage seems
somewhat common even in other Asian countries.

Talking about this village, a place where temperatures could be around 35°C
(about 95°F) or more for many months in the year during daytime, walking
barefoot may be difficult unless one is used to it. Maybe there aren’t many
paved roads there either, since those could get even hotter.

~~~
PopsiclePete
The first time I saw anyone wearing shoes (and putting them up on coffee
tables and such) inside their own house was in America.

That’s not an option in the tiny European country I grew up in or anywhere in
Asia I’ve been.

I think it’s barbaric behavior. You literally step on vomit, needles, dog shit
and what not outside and then you drag that inside your own bedroom? What the
fuck.

As far as what to wear when you take your shoes off in someone’s house -
there’s always slippers for guests, many pairs. Or you just walk around in
your socks.

~~~
horsawlarway
Also, _GASP_ you eat plants that GREW in that shit for months.

It turns out most of the stuff you step in just won't hurt you in modern
society.

And if you have pets (mainly dogs) they're going to bring some dirt in
anyways.

I can understand taking off shoes on particularly muddy days, but otherwise
who cares? A little dirt and grime is part of life, and exposure has been
shown to be good for allergies.

~~~
KorematsuFred
Well we all have shit in our body does not mean we should not wash our hands
after taking a dump.

India also turns out to be super dusty where people mostly walk instead of
driving around in car. So the shoes are filthy too. I use to wash my sports
shoes every month when I was in India. In USA I have not really washed them
for years. There is simply no need.

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jacobevelyn
I spent six months living in a rural New Zealand town when I was 11. About 95%
of people there (including me) were barefoot everywhere—in the home, at
school, at the grocery store, at the doctor's office. Some sports were
predominantly barefoot too (I was on my school's cross-country team and
everyone ran barefoot, but I was also on a soccer team where we used cleats).
There was no stigma against wearing shoes anywhere, but the majority of people
still chose not to.

Did I ever get thorns or glass in my foot? Yes. Did I ever regret going
barefoot? No. It was completely liberating in a way that's hard to describe.

~~~
jacobolus
I have been walking around San Francisco barefoot with my 2-year-old kid for a
year.

We get told on a daily basis that we should watch out for broken glass on the
sidewalk, but the only (minor) foot punctures we’ve had are (1) I stepped on a
fish bone in my own kitchen, and (2) my kid stepped on a thumbtack near a
picnic table at the playground. ( _Edit: to be clear, there is regularly
broken glass on the sidewalk, which we step around._ )

I suppose there is some chance of not paying attention, stepping on something
big and sharp, and getting a serious injury, but it frankly seems less likely
than getting hit by a car. I think people are in general quite poor at
evaluating and balancing risks.

In the advantages column: my kid’s “toddling” phase lasted like 2 months, and
he is a faster and more graceful a walker/runner than any kids his age here.
(I’m sure compared to someone in a hunting tribe he would be no better than
average, but young city kids are weak and awkward.) There is so much
information picked up from the ground while trying to move, and so many
additional muscles in the foot/lower leg to use when not in a stiff shoe. Not
being barefoot when learning to walk is a huge handicap for the little
developing brain.

The only places we typically go that really insist on shoes here are
occasional restaurants and the public library. More people could get away with
walking barefoot in more places than they might expect.

~~~
mises
I would be concerned about dirty needles etc. as much as anything, especially
in a place like San Francisco. Junkies can carry God-knows-what, but I can
respect you for braving that risk.

~~~
jacobolus
There are some homeless drug addicts in our neighborhood and I would not be
surprised at needles at night or early morning in some nooks or gutters here
or there, but the only place I have seen needles in the middle of the day on
the sidewalk is near Civic Center.

Still, even if there were regularly needles lying around, the chances of
stepping on a needle are vanishingly small. (Have you ever stepped on a needle
while wearing shoes? People going barefoot are paying a lot closer attention
to the ground.) The chances of picking up something from that are much smaller
still. Needles pass diseases when people re-use them to inject stuff into
their blood, not when they accidentally step on one.

If worried about disease, there is probably a (still very tiny but)
significantly higher risk of stepping on disease-carrying poop while having a
cut on the foot.

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amrrs
Most of the houses in South India (I'm from Tamil Nadu) forbid us wearing
slipper or shoes inside the house. It's simply unnecessary as our houses are
regularly swept and cleaned. I found it weird when I moved to North India
where people find it usual to wear slipper inside. The plausible explanation I
came up with is __cold __

~~~
parthdesai
Most of the houses in India* (I'm from Gujarat, have friends from Delhi, have
relatives living in Mumbai.) If you find people wearing slippers inside, they
are a separate pair of slippers only meant to be worn inside the house. We
were taught that not removing your shoes/sandals when you visit someone's
place is a sign of disrespect.

~~~
rahimnathwani
My family is from Gujarat. Even though neither my parents (born in Uganda) nor
I (born in London) have ever lived in India, I still feel strange when I visit
a home where shoes are not removed at the door.

~~~
parthdesai
Yeah I moved to Canada in uni and it is still so weird when I go to a random
place where they don't remove footwear. I'll usually remove my shoes even if
there are other people who still have their shoes on.

I'll also ask anyone and everyone who visit my apartment to remove their
footwear at the door.

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vram22
A lot of people in India, more so poor people, and people in rural areas,
don't wear any kind of footwear, much of the time. They might just wear shoes
or slippers (chappals) when going to a town or city. I see this even today.
Even though I know they can get used to it, I always marvel at how they can
handle all the potential issues, like heat (gets very high in large parts of
India for much of the year), cold, bumpy/sharp surfaces, even glass or nails
(although rarer) on the roads. I've seen workers in houses of relatives, which
I have visited, who did their work inside and around the house, barefoot.

~~~
lozf
Thanks for mentioning "chappals" \- In my experience (currently month 21 in
India over the last 14 years) this term usually refers to a generic type of
open-ish, often plastic or rubber, shoe - anything between a "flip-flop"
("thong" for Aussies), "slides", "sandals", or more like "crocs", etc whereas
(to a Brit) at least, a "slipper" is quite different (usually softer
materials, though some might be similar in style to slides or crocs or
moccasins), and intended for indoor use only.

~~~
vram22
>this term usually refers to a generic type of open-ish, often plastic or
rubber, shoe

I don't know if it can be called a shoe, unless you were using the term
loosely - I saw that you mentioned slides, sandals, etc. The open-ish part is
right, it is an open item of footwear, see below.

Google "bata chappals images" and "hawaiian chappals images" to see two common
kinds of footwear that are both informally called "chappals" in India. The
former includes ones made out of leather or synthetic materials (what is
called PU here, maybe polyurethane, not sure), at least for the cheaper brands
(or non-brands). I dislike and never buy the PU or similar type. Feels
slimy/slippery and wrong to the skin, and causes more perspiration than either
rubber or leather, IME, although rubber and leather cause some too, in higher
temperatures during summer.

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Unit8593
There are really good reasons to wear shoes where sanitation might be suspect.
Hookworm is a real and nasty thing.

[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/how-a-worm-gave-the-
so...](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/how-a-worm-gave-the-south-a-bad-
name/)

------
pkamb
I find that many American families cargo-cult the "no shoes inside" rule but
without the necessary home infrastructure to support it.

A pile of shoes at the garage entrance with no bench to put them on, or
expecting you to remove shoes on the wet doormat before stepping onto the
carpet inside.

In Japan there seemed to be an entire cottage industry of shoe horns, benches,
stools, slippers, and mats designed for the custom. I'd need that in my home
before I went all-in with no shoes.

~~~
jakobegger
I'm baffled by this. Do Americans really keep their shoes on at home?

What do you do if it is wet and muddy outside?

Do toddlers wear shoes inside as well?

So many questions...

~~~
manfredo
I sort of depends. Usually there's a subjective boundary. In parents place the
first floor is tile, and it's acceptable to wear shoes on the first floor. But
the others floors are carpeted and you don't wear shoes up there.

In the older house, the one I grew up in, the front door led to an atrium
where it is okay to wear shoes. But the hallways and rooms connected to the
atrium were off limits for shoes. The Laundry room opened to the outside
(namely, our bunny's enclosure) and we also stored some yard tools in the
laundry room. It'd be inconvenient to take shoes on and off all the time when
going in and out. So the laundry room is fair game for shoes.

At my apartment I do it Asian-style and take them off at the door because
there is no natural boundary and because San Francisco streets are especially
filthy.

So the answer is: it's chaos and there are no rules.

~~~
jakobegger
Ok, this makes sense and is similar to what I am used to from Europe.

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snrplfth
Cool, it's like a nature preserve for hookworm.

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mruts
How is banning shoes taking a practice of hygiene to a “new level”? You can’t
take off your feet when you get home, can you?

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atomical
I wear shoes inside and sometimes while I'm laying in bed. Be mortified.

I like the respect angle though. Far too many people throw their trash on the
ground. If not wearing shoes outside makes them rethink their actions I'm all
for it.

Edit: Downvoters were mortified.

~~~
marsrover
I'll wear shoes inside but laying in bed is going a little too far. You walk
in public restrooms with those shoes (I'm assuming).

~~~
undersuit
Public restrooms, private restrooms, my kitchen, your cook at a restaurant
wears them in the restauraunt's kitchen.

I guess the real question is, who wears shoes under their bed covers?

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gerbilly
Good for them, I never really liked wearing shoes.

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abledon
more electrons being absorbed into the body! Good for them. Cut out the rubber
shoe resistor

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thefounder
Next they should ban the clothes during the summer time. One thing less to
worry about. I would totally sign up for that!

~~~
harias
"Let them be satisfied with a mere loin-cloth. In our climate, we hardly need
more to protect our bodies during the warm months of the year." \- Gandhi
advocating the boycott of foreign clothes.

Source:
[http://pib.nic.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=149833](http://pib.nic.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=149833)

~~~
thefounder
It should really be more about convenience than a boycott.

