It was 7:53 AM. In just about 7 minutes the school assembly was going to start and Arjun, a class 9 student, had just those few minutes to turn his shabby-looking canvas shoes into sparkling ‘white’ ones. Joe wasn’t alone, though. Almost his entire class was frantically hustling around looking for ways to attain the same. 7 minutes turned to 5 and there it was, the solution, waiting on the ledge of the huge green chalkboard: the white chalk. He picked it up and rolled it over the darkened part of his white shoes to cover the dirt marks. And, so did everyone else, turn by turn, because there were always a limited number of those available.

Our canvas shoes brought out the finest creativity within us.

Not only were they the reason we knew how to tie laces but fixing ‘em was like an obstacle we’d face every morning. We founds chalks that came to our rescue right before the morning assembly but when they weren’t there, we’d find unconventional ways like using whiteners and white poster colours. 

And, when there was nothing available, you could always pretend to fall sick and your shoes would just smile back at you like they were saying, “You’re amazing! Maybe you should try your hand at acting or something.”