India Has Designed and Perfected a New Missile System

It will be wrong on India’s part to claim the first position for this invention.  The credit actually belong s to Iraq.  India has only pursued the project and popularized it.  I am talking about the ‘shoe throwing game’.

          Ex President Bush ducked his head to escape the shoe-missile since it had been aimed directly at his face. A good dodger, eh !  He must have been a good baseball player in his younger days.

          Whereas our throwers in India have been more considerate. The shoe is thrown to  fly past the person’s head  and not intended to strike at the face.  This surely calls for some skill.  The victim in this particular   case was the Indian Home Minister.  He took it in a light manner and forgave the  missile firer who is a journalist himself and wanted to draw the attention of the people to the injustice done to his community. Something good did come out of this episode anyway  because the nation woke up to a gruesome  saga long forgotten..

          One chucker in a public meeting cried out,  “I want to bring out the injustice done to my son..” This shoe-man happened to be an ex principal of a college;  his son had been sacked from his job, which the father considered most unjust and unfair.  So, he had brought this to the notice  of  the authorities concerned through his shoe-throwing escapade.  A  good approach, I feel.  It made news and the clip was flashed on all TV channels. We must admire the ex-principal’s modus operandi. If he had resorted to the conventional methods, his complaint wouldn’t have seen the light of day at all.

          More and more people in India are resorting to this novel method. The world may note that India is now in the Election mode. So, public meetings are the order of the day and the shoe hurlers’ battle ground as well.  One angry protester threw his old show the other day at a famous politician who is a Prime ministerial candidate. The trouble was that the thrower was far away from  the podium and the missile fell short of the target.

          There are some  by-products of this  mis- adventurous sport.   “Old  and used shoe” shops have sprung up near the public meeting venues.  The shop keeper’s slogan says, “Preserve your shoes; they are precious.  Buy one from my shop at a throw away price..”  From now onwards, people won’t cast off their used shoes into the dust bin but offer them for sale.  I wouldn’t be surprised if you find small hand written hand  bills pasted on their door saying, “Old shoes available.  Just  walk in…”.

          I could foresee some modification to this modern game.  So far the shoes thrown have been gents’ footwear, which you know are flat stuffs.  What about ladies shoes? The high heeled-things ! They could punch a hole on a person’s face or neck, you know if aimed and shot at the right trajectory.  So, here is the choice:  if you want to advertise your problem or  grudge, throw a  gent’s shoe;  otherwise go in for the ladies’ variety.