Shiny shiny, shiny boots of leather

I'm normally a cheerfully grubby shoes kinda guy. But earlier this evening I passed a shoe-shine maestro on the street, looked down at my feet and said 'aw, go on then, you've talked me into it'. In fluent Marathi, obviously.

So for the next ten minutes I get to watch a real professional at work. I can't help thinking that he's far better as his job than I am at mine, but then he's not alone in that... When he's nearly done, a little kid wanders along from nowhere, grabs my shoes and the man's brush, throws on a little more polish, and attacks them with gusto. Gives them some real humpty, too, no messing about. Two shoe-shiners for the price of one! Bargain. (Although in size terms, it was really only one and a half shoe shiners.)

Any allegations that my newfound interest in shiny shoes is prompted by a desire to use them as a mirror to look up girls' skirts will be firmly denied.