Barefoot in the heat of summer…

It’s summertime again – at least in South India! I’m just back from a trip to Tamil Nadu, and as usual, I was traveling barefoot – with no footwear in my backpack. Summertime in India means: Temperatures have crossed the 35 C° mark and the pavement gets REALLY hot, at least between 12 noon and 3 pm. No wonder that the sight of a ferengi (foreigner) walking barefoot on a tarred road caused a considerable amount of curiosity among the locals: I don’t know how often I heard the same question – “You’re walking barefoot? Isn’t it too hot?” My answer remained the same: “Not at all, I’m used to it” I said, giving the curious shopkeeper, innkeeper or street hawker a big smile. Don’t get fooled: People are wondering how a FOREIGNER can bear the heat, but that doesn’t mean I’m the only one roaming around on bare soles! Not at all: It has been long since I’ve seen SO many people walking barefoot - happily and carefree! At the bus stand or railway station, in the market or in the fields, in the village or in town… People of all ages, men, woman and children, villagers and sadhus as well as college kids and well-dressed businessmen… Their dark feet are dusty but healthy. They walk with self confidence, and the characteristic widened gap between the big and the index toe shows me why: They’re USED TO a life on bare soles! Walking barefoot in the heat – it’s normal for them! No harm… Well, same with me! J My strong bare feet are evenly tanned, the “gap” is there too… And my soles are tough, REALLY TOUGH! The constant exposure to hot tarmac, gravel and sharp rocks only adds additional layers of protective leather – one after the other. Walking barefoot in the heat of the summer – it’s NO PROBLEM for me, I’m feeling totally comfortable! Which shows: Our feet are MEANT TO BE BARE, and as soon as we free them from their prisons (shoes) they start to adapt to our new, barefoot lifestyle, regaining their natural strength and toughness! An article somewhere out there in the WWW puts it this way:

“As much of that early walking was probably done barefoot. No one knows when the first shoes, probably sandals, were invented. But if you go outside barefoot a lot, you may notice that the bottoms of your feet get tough (and dirty) and you can walk almost anywhere without hurting them. People who walk barefoot all the time - and about a billion of them live on the planet today - develop a thick layer of keratin on the soles of their feet. This is the same material that hair, horns, and claws are made of. With their toughened soles, they can walk over rocks, thorns, and even hot coals (though not many people try this).”

(http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4128/is_200502/ai_n9520830)

For more information on the joys of living barefoot, visit the extensive Link-section of my Yahoo Group “The Barefoot Traveller’s Tepee” with more than 130 links (growing!) about all aspects of a life without shoes:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/barefoottravelling/links

 

Great post. But it looks like you actually have to join and be a member of that group before you can view this site, which kind of restricts its usefulness if someone doesn't want to jump right in and join before really knowing what he or she is joining. Some kind of public preview would be nice.

 

Barefoot Traveller,

This is probably your best post yet. Thanks.