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Shekhar Bhatia

April.24 : We used to call them "Hawai chappals" or "bathroom slippers" and buy them from Bata shops. Hawai with a single "i", that is. They had a peculiar synthetic odour that you could smell from a distance. These days the flat, backless rubber slippers with a Y-strap are known as flip-flops. In some parts of the world they are also called thongs.

Bata is an iconic brand. The first Bata factory in India came up in early thirties. In the pre-liberalised Indian economy, everyone I know wore Batas. To a generation the brand is also synonymous with rubber slippers. In the beginning you could find these mostly in one colour: white base and a blue strap. Perhaps there were other colours but I don’t remember. The last Bata slippers I bought had a blue strap and cost less than a Rs 100. I’ve seen some nice colourful ones hanging from makeshift stalls in the neighbourhood weekly bazaar. They sell for Rs 35, but have a distinct plastic feel (and therefore stink less) than the synthetic rubber kind made by Bata.

Flip-flops are believed to have been around for thousands of years, and appeared in the US after World War II when returning soldiers brought back the Japanese equivalent called zôri. They do have a certain Japanese minimalism to them.

I read a story last year that Bata has sold the "Hawai" brand to a Brazilian company. The last time I passed the shop they were still around — the old blue now also available in floral patterns. Perhaps a sign of changing times.

Once the economy opened we saw some other brands with striped flip-flops. They had a better feel, but were also more expensive. I guess I was tired of buying the same old Batas and switched to the new brand.

Bata’s slippers were — and still are — value for money. When my son was studying in the US he used to take a bag full of Hawais for his friends "because they cost less than $2 here". They must really like flip-flops because we even spotted some at the graduation ceremony. They were bright and colourful and stood out in that crowd of black gowns.

Then came Crocs. In a riot of stunning, irresistible colours. Terrible, said many; disgusting, added others. How can you like something so ugly?

A year ago I was with my son buying a pair for him and, purely on an impulse, bought one for myself. Not those clogs with holes but a pair of bright red-and-black flip-flops called Athens. At about Rs 1,400 for a pair of slippers that you wear only at home, it certainly was an indulgence. But, as they say, you only live once. Frankly, I wanted lime-green but I thought they would be a bit too loud for my age.

Friends thought I had gone bananas. Beauty, I said, is in the eye of the beholder. Kitschy? Maybe, but I have never worn anything more comfortable. The website says they are "bacteriostatic" (I don’t know what they mean by it) and "ergonomically certified". And yes, they are odour-less.

Love them or hate them, the company sold millions of pairs across the world. They have gone beyond summer wear and now have Fall and Winter collections, and even high-heeled Crocs. Some said it is the next Nike. They must be popular in India that even small shoe shops started stocking Crocs.

The story of Crocs is quite well known: three friends were looking for a perfect sailing shoe — something that was fun and comfortable, waterproof and did not slip or smell.

One of them showed the others a pair of clogs made by a Canadian company that he was wearing, and that they thought was what they were looking for. They acquired the licence, modified the design and trademarked it Crocs (because crocodiles are tough and strong, and good in land and water). That was 2002.

Crocs are made of a secret resin called Croslite that the company says is neither plastic nor rubber. It is an "extraordinary impact absorbing resin material developed for maximum cushioning" and is "anti-microbial, which virtually eliminates odour".

In one year it became a fad. Three years down the line sales had touched $200 million a year. The world, they said, had two kinds of people: those who love Crocs and those who loathe them. Their ad campaign had the theme "Ugly can be beautiful". There was even a website called ihatecrocs.com.

But recently I read a Reuters story that Crocs is in financial trouble and their shares have fallen from $75 in October 2007 to just $2. What went wrong? Why does a dream run founded on a solid product suddenly slow down? I have used a pair for a year, and I can vouch for the comfort and their shock-absorbing sole. So why the slump in sales? Was it a fad whose time is up? Surely it can’t be the reports that Crocs get caught in escalators. Is it the competition from cheaper imitations? The company says it’s because the world economy is in a mess. Shoppers have cut back on nonessential purchases. But they are confident about the long-term prospects. I hope they are right — because I love the spring in my step. And just in case they go out of fashion, I’m going to go out and buy another pair. Damn the economy.

Shekhar Bhatia can be contacted at shekhar.bhatia@gmail.com