I have heard about bata since I was born because that is what I used to wear since I started school. It was the most durable shoes it used to outlast my shoe size i.e. it never used to get damage even after using it for 2-3 years and I used to pass it on to our next youngster. But its been may be more than 20 years but still its stuck with its premitive style. It should have grown and maybe gone special like maybe bring some italian hand made shoe craftmanship to it but that is my opinion it can be some special edition. With regard to the sandles or chapals as we used call it the designs are awesome but why is it has to so uncomfortable. After you wear them for an hour your feet starts aching. I expect better from bata as it had been here more than 20 years