From the sole 

BENGALURU: Jaideep Singh loves his sneakers, all 23 pairs of them. But when it came to helping out people in need during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, the city-based lawyerturned- entrepreneur didn’t bat an eyelash before parting ways with some coveted pieces in his collection - two custom made Air Jordan 1 sneakers - to raise funds to donate to the Hemkunt Foundation, which is helping patients get oxygen cylinders in time. “People’s lives are more important than the shoes on my feet,” says Singh, who is the founder of the startup Ambee.

“I can donate in my personal capacity but it’s important to rally people together,” he says. Over the weekend, Singh was able to raise Rs 81,000 through an auction on his Instagram. While a doctor from Agra acquired the first pair of shoes for Rs 15,000, the other pair saw benefactors donate Rs 16,000 and Rs 50,000 without actually buying them. “People knew how much these kicks mean to me so they asked me to keep the pair. But I’m going to put them back up for bidding,” says Singh, who also plans to put up other rarer sneakers, worth `50,000 each for auction next: the Jordan 1 Paris Low, Nike SB Black Pigeon and Nike SB White Diamond Dunks. The initiative kicked off a chain reaction.

Now, other sneakerheads in the city are coming forward in a similar fashion to do their bit in these times. Take, for instance, Nandith Jaisimha, a filmmaker and the proud owner of over 200 pairs of sneakers. Recently, the 34-year-old started off a new venture, Kicks for Chicks, where he sold sneakers specifically designed with female sizing in mind. He has now offered to auction off 10 brand new pairs, including Puma’s Suede and Basket Heart sneakers and an Adidas Originals Stan Smith Out-Loud pair.

“These blingedout pairs are trending right now and are usually sold at prices starting at Rs 5,000. But for the auction, I’ve kept the base price as Rs 3,000. Because the aim is to raise money for a good cause,” says Jaisimha, who went on to coin a name for this c a m p a i g n - #deedsfromthesole. Currently, Singh has 15 pairs lined up for auction. He is collaborating with the team at Sole Culture Bengaluru, a sneakerhead community in the city.

Over the next few days, a new pair of shoes will be released for bids on the Instagram handle @soleculturebengaluru. “By default, all proceeds will go to Hemkunt Foundation. But if the winner has another preference, he can go ahead and choose another organisation. They even have the option to directly transfer the money and send me a receipt. Right now, I don’t want to doubt anyone’s intentions and I’m choosing to trust people’s goodwill,” Singh says, adding that the shoes will be shipped once the lockdown ends.