When the days were young, falls used to be a busy time at our place. Almost all of my paternal and maternal family is settled outside Pakistan for decades. Fall would be the time when the migrated birds would head home for a few weeks, if at all.
Being the eldest daughter-in-law and lady of the house, my mother would dedicate her time and energies in changing the interior space, design, and decor, arranging for required household appliances, and getting new personal clothing and accessories for the entire family.
One such fateful fall introduced what’s now a family tradition for us.
It so happened that we visited the cobbler in Farooqia market1 a few weeks before my eldest paternal aunt’s arrival. At his shop we learned that he along with his subordinate workers has started making shoes on order. The conversation sustained. The ready orders were showcased. My mother’s and my feet were traced on a piece of paper.2
A week and a half later, we had three winter velvety wooden-soled indoor shoes lined by the main entrance. They were comfortable and appreciable. This success story started the tradition of getting custom (handmade) indoor shoes for our family twice a year every year.
However, that fall wasn’t the first fall where we had demanded and received exactly what we wanted. Prior to that, we had an arrangement with a shoe store in Super Market3 for my mother’s custom shoes.
My mother used to dress up to the nines, and that meant having the right design and set of colors in her shoes among other things. When fabric for her dresses would go in to the tailor’s, shoe store would also have the order with details on desired material, color palette, and custom designs for her shoes.
This is how it was for the Bishmal4 ladies. When the days were young that is.
Fast forwarding to October 2013, this shopping queen had a fulfilling shopping session at ABC King in Tartu Kaubamaja. She walked in, saw these beautifully done Ten Points boots, bought them, and that was it. But then if I think about it, that was not it.
This investment helped me in making two discoveries.
First, I have a genetic memory which identifies and settles for nothing but quality, and I have an upbringing which makes me who I am and unconsciously dictates my choices and decisions. I understand that the later is applicable to all of us. Here I mean to attribute my selection of exquisitely hand-made boots to our custom family tradition.
Secondly, Ten Points. This brand is older than I am, and it has come a long way. Each and every shoe they make is meticulously handmade. The designs are very Scandinavian and unique to the brand. The shoes are comfortable, used materials are finely selected, stitching is fine and consistent, finishing is well taken care of, and the brand name is rightly selected.
Talking about these boots in particular, they are part of Pandora series and cost no more than 200 Euros (in shop price). I love how the shoes are waterproof and the sole is carefully formulated for black ice5. Inner lining is enough to keep you warm in the freezing cold Estonian winters. You won’t even need leg warmers. The design is practical. The laces help you in adjusting shoes according to your body mass while the zipper on the side relieves you of daily nuisance of tying up laces.
(Added: October 2016) Ten Points‘ durability is admirable and worth the investment. The brush leather boots here lasted a total of three years of Nordic winters. That too, when I was very careless in maintaining them. If I had cleaned them after every usage and applied shoe wax as and when it was needed, these would have survived another 9-10 months of winter bliss here.
As you already see I heart Ten Points. There will surely be more of such talk 😉 Meanwhile, how about you? Have you already tried this brand? How do you feel about their products?
1 Islamabad is an army-planned city. It is divided into alphabetic sectors e.g. E-sector, F-sector, G-sector, … I-sector. Each sector has numbered divisions e.g. F-5, F-6, F-7, F-8 … F-12. Each of these divisions have further four divisions e.g. F-6/1, F-6/2, F-6/3, F-6/4. Each numbered division has a central market and each of the corresponding four division have its own market. Farooqia market is the local market in sector F-6/1.
2 Our first order was for the three females in the house. The third pair belonged to my sister whose feet were traced at home and later sent in to the cobbler.
3 Super Market is the central market (comprising of many businesses, shops, bank, post office, utility stores, restaurant, post office) for F-6 sector. There is an official name for this market (currently unable to recall and find), but it is commonly referred to as super market.
4 Bishmal is the name for the eldest family of Hatim Ali (HA) clan. The name is not our attempt at being cool. It is decided by the elders. Our house is referred as the Bishmal House. My family comprising of my father, mother, myself, sister, and brother is collectively referred as Bishmal family. Other terms that you may encounter on this blog or elsewhere include Bishmals, Bishmal ladies, and Bishmal girls.
5 Black ice is the transparent coating of ice on the sidewalks and roads. It is usually hard to notice in dark winter evenings (and nights).