In the summer of 2013, I had visited Singapore. To reach there, I had to wait at the Malaysian airport for a while, as there wasn’t a direct flight from India to Singapore. There, I saw some Malaysian kids skating around…. but they were skating in a weird way, with their toes pointing upwards. Then I realised that they weren’t skating but ‘heeling’ (as I came to know later). Now, what is heeling? Well it is basically skating with shoes with wheels known as Heelys.

Heelys are a brand of shoes that has one or more wheels embedded in each sole, similar to inline skates. Roger Adams invented Heelys in 1999. Airports, malls, marble floors, all are excellent for Heelys. Every single time I went anywhere by flight, I ‘heeled’ around the airport. Holding on to the trolley, resting on my parents shoulder, or just heeling on my own, all are great alternatives to walking

‘Heeling is almost like a sport. You need to practice it to master it. Well, I got the practice part easy; as my parents gifted me mine in Singapore. The roads are just amazing in Singapore. I could Heely even on the roads.

The disadvantage to Heelys is obviously: accidents. The injury rate while ‘heeling’ is approximately 51 injuries per 100,000 children. Another minor disadvantage is the slight pain in the legs because of pointing the toes upwards.

Me, I really enjoyed heeling when I did it. Recently, I gave it to one of my friends. Curious peoples asking me about it, shaking off the millions of stares or trying not to collide into things, all made me feel…joy.