Brand Love

Lavanya sensed something brewing when she picked up her pre-teen son and teenaged daughter. "How was your day?" she asked as they got into the car.

"Mom, you have to get me an Adidas shoes," son Shail said in a stern tone.

Lavanya pursed her lips. "Haven't we gone through this several times?" she asked as she started the car.

"All my friends have branded shoes. In fact, Jose has shoes in all the brands, he has branded pens..."

"How many feet does he have?" Lavanya asked.

He impatiently waved her question away. "Sameer's father too gets him branded shoes."

"But why? Your school shoe colour is white?"

"Yes, but during football practice, they change."

"What about the others?" Lavanya asked, wondering if only she was abnormal in having such outdated ideas about spending.

Kriti, her daughter, piped in, "Ya ma... My friends too buy only branded stuff."

"We will also... Once you reach your optimum growth. You know that in six months it will be lying unused," Lavanya tried to appeal to their sense of responsibility.

"Just one pair, ma!" Shail didn't let up as he pleaded. "It will help me when I play football!"

"Your skill is what makes you play well, isn't it?" she tried reasoning. 

Shail launched into a lecture on the effect of shoes on the game, but it flew over Lavanya's head. Since they had reached home, she hoped that as they had their evening snacks, this would be forgotten.

Kriti had something more to add, though. "In fact, PT sir told me today that there is a shop where you get discounts in brands... He said sports people should wear good brands," Kriti built her case. She was also in the girls' football team.

"He would, he is not paying for it. Anyway, as I have told you before, you guys are still growing up. Whatever we buy, you outgrow it in six months."

The attempt to persuade her didn't stop even when they entered the house. "Mom, we have a match this Friday. We still have two days. Please get us the shoes," Shail went on. It was not as if they couldn't afford it, but somehow, Lavanya felt it was unnecessary to spend on football shoes at this point. "Can you use those shoes for badminton?" she asked her children, both of whom were more serious about that than football. When they shook their heads, she called the debate to an end. "No point spending for a couple of matches you may play. We get you all you need for badminton already," she said firmly.

She could see them sulk and mumble, "You are always like this. You never get us what we want..."

"What to do," she said in an amused tone. "You are born to horrible parents."

"Mom!" Shail pouted.

"Shall I ask Jose or Sameer's parents to adopt you?" she teased and a punch landed on her arm, making her laugh. "You will get all that you want." She heard him sniff. "But with me, you go by the rules I make," she added simply and hugged her son. 

The day of the football match dawned bright. As her husband Suraj got ready to drop them, Lavanya could see the sulk return on Shail's and Kriti's faces. Suraj raised a questioning eyebrow towards her. She chuckled and asked, "Since you both don't have the required shoes for today's match, I don't think you can do a good job. Why don't you skip it?"

The two didn't deign her with a reply and walked out of the house with their chins raised. She waved to them from the balcony and did a thumbs up, and their anger forgotten, they waved back with grins and responded with their own thumbs up.

When she went to pick them up in the evening, they were bursting with uncontained excitement. "You know ma, our teams won!" both of them exclaimed in unison. "You know who scored and saved the goals?"

"Let me guess, Jose scored goals and Sameer saved them?" Lavanya asked sweetly.

"No!" Shail started but she intervened, "Oh, Sameer scored and Jose saved?"

"They were a waste! Did nothing! In fact, PT sir didn't even send them to play! I scored two goals and saved many!" Shail said and started counting the saves. "Did you watch my saves, Kriti?" he asked his sister. "I saw your goals too! They were amazing," he added enthusiastically.

"Hmmm, but why, Shail, didn't your team mates wear their branded shoes today?" she asked with mock innocence.

"Ma, what has that got to do with their game?" he asked.

"But that day you told me it did!" she said. "Doesn't it?" she asked, hoping that they would hanker for brands less.