Heels of Compassion

"How are you going to wear your saree without heels? Planning to wear those bright, green coloured Nike's of yours or what?", my mother asked me in disbelief when I told her that I expressed no desire to go tripping around in front of people wearing three inch heels. She had taken me to one of the best shoe stores of the locality and the poor employee was tired of making me wear at least twenty different pairs of heels which my mother had chosen for me. Finally, not wishing to brew up my disagreement to a full fledged battle of words, I chose a pair of peeping,black heels and bought it, much to the satisfaction of my mother and the employee, who heaved a great sigh of relief as my mother paid the money and waved enthusiastically to us when we walked out of the store.
Once we reached home,my father asked me to wear them and walk around the room. I slipped my feet into the heels and felt myself standing a little taller. I walked around, without tripping or slipping. My mother said that I better start practicing to walk in heels more often.
The next day, I had gone to buy some clothes for myself as Kolkata is the Nigeria of India during summer. I had just finished buying my clothes and was about to buy something to eat when the sight of two children caught my eye. I walked close to them and was horrified by their condition. They both wore an oversized t-shirt which had most probably been tossed on the road, judging by it's condition. It was cold and dusty, and the t-shirt had holes in multiple places. The fabric threatened to tear at some places and the poor girls were shivering. I took out two of my t-shirts and gently handed it over to them. They started protesting at first but their desperation to wear proper clothes overwhelmed the protesting. They mumbled their thanks and walked away, smiling at me.
It was on that day that I realized that wearing heels could make you taller but the greatest heights of humanity could be achieved by wearing the heels of compassion and love.