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For all of history almost all Indian children went barefoot. This of course was the case in most countries, at least countries with warm climates year round. This did not change with independence (1947). One observer reports that most boys in Kerala were going barefoot in the 1960s, especially from pooer families. A reader writes, "I visited India during 2002. I was in Ranchi (Jharkhand State), Calcutta (West Bengal) and Bangalore (Karnataka). In rural areas and in suburbs most children (sometimes quite all) go barefoot. Also in the town many children go barefoot. I don't think that is only a poverty issue. Poorest boys go always barefoot, but not only them. I think that bare feet are not seen as a poverty signal and many boys chose to go without footwear. In the photos we can see a boys' group in a rural area near Bangalore, but also a family visiting de Queen Victoria Memorial in Calcutta." We see some Indian boys wearng footwear (2020s), but we still see many more children contuinuing to go barefoot. And it is not just poor children. We see middle-class boys from comfortable families going barefoot. We note that from the way children are dressed and the fact that it is the case in private schools and well as public schools. This seems to be the case because both the children and the parents prefer it. We see no demonstrable trend of Indian children beginng to wear footwear in huge numbers. With groups of children we now see a few with some kind of footwear, but usually mot children are barefoot.
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