I was born with three
older sisters and have been married for over 30 years. These ladies, who have
had a great influence in my life, gave me the impression that selecting their
clothes was a simple affair. My wife selects her dresses in a jiffy and my
immediate elder sister pushes my limits of patience a bit – that is about it.
Then imagine my surprise when my niece called me from the US and asked me to
talk to her “tailor” on 5th for an appointment to meet him. Well,
amused as I was, I did call the “tailor” on 5th evening and he
graciously agreed to meet us on the next day evening. He was very polite and
sounded sophisticated. He rattled off an address in Royapettah, Chennai which I
was not familiar. When I enquired about the route, he asked me a plain
question” Will you be coming by car or scooter?” Knowing Royapettah and its by
lanes, I would have preferred a scooter but considering the “US” niece, I said
I would be coming in my car. He respectfully added that I cannot drive my car
into his street! When I further quizzed him about the route, he asked me “Are
you on Whatapp?” A “tailor” asking me this – I was dumbfounded. Once I
responded in the affirmative, I got his directions in a minute.
The next day I set out
with my niece following his directions meticulously. During the course of the
drive, my niece told me that the “tailor” was Joy and he was also a dancer! We
reached a place where I parked my car and then went looking out for Joy walking
into those lanes. Forget my car, I could not have driven my scooter there. Then
I called him as I was going in circles and he came out of an even narrower lane
and called me waving at me. I saw him and with great trepidation entered his
“shop”.
An American, after his
first visit to India, once said, “India is like a snake holding its own tail.
The head is in the 21st century and its tail in the 17th!”
Well, I could now understand what he meant. Joy’s place, though in the midst of
a noisy and crowded by lane, was tastefully decorated. I could see the sign “J
O Y Boutique” with the tag line “Clothes that speak!” I never knew clothes
could speak. The lighting bulbs were covered with tastefully designed bamboo
coverings, with the partitions to the tailoring area decorated using jute
screens. There were stacks of stitched clothes neatly packed and waiting to be
delivered to customers. I was impressed. He certainly had taste.
We introduced ourselves
and he was a very pleasant man, may be in his forties, I guessed. He was smartly
dressed in a shorts and a kurta – perhaps a designer one. He spoke impeccable
English. My niece wanted to stitch a few blouses and had brought one for
measurement that had a few glitches. He wanted her to wear it and point out the
defects. As she went about her business, I, the compulsory conversationalist,
started a dialogue with Joy. What I heard in the next 10 minutes left me
astounded.
Joy was a Bharathanatiyam
dancer from the Kalashetra School of dance. He had performed in many countries
and had been to the US also several times. Once, a few years ago, while
performing in Sri Lanka, he fell off a trampoline and hurt himself very badly
and was almost paralyzed neck downwards. He suffered from what is medically
termed “quadriparesis” He had to be airlifted to Chennai and was in a hospital
for close to three months. He was in rehabilitation for over 2 years and slowly
regained strength in his limbs. Though dance was his first love, he could not
go back again. Hence he started his own boutique designing women’s clothes.
The psychologist in me
popped up the question “Were you not depressed?” He replied with a gentle smile
“Yes, at times, but I did not allow it to get the better of me. My family and
close friends supported me to the hilt. But for their love and the Grace of
Lord, I would not have made it. I don’t dwell on the past but am grateful that
I am back and doing my best for my customers”. I had tears in my eyes, as here
I was seeing a man who was dealt a cruel blow by fate and there he was
resilient, strong and cheerful as anyone can be. Hats off to you Joy, I told
him. I was reminded of Rudyard Kipling’s beautiful poem “If you can keep your
head …you’ll be a Man my son!” I rarely get to meet people like Joy. More often
than not, I meet people who crib about small things – how life is unfair to
them. As he went back into the tailoring area, I could see him walk with a very
slight drag of his leg – remarkable mobility for a man who probably would not
have even walked!
My niece gave instructions
and then gave about 6 or 7 blouse pieces for stitching. Then I saw Joy, the
master designer at work. For each of the blouses he sketched on a notebook a
new design based on the fabric colour and patterns. This was sheer magic for a
person like me who cannot even draw a straight line for all the money in the
world. Within no time he completed the designs and then I knew this “tailor”
was no ordinary “tailor”. He was a master craftsman who really brought “Joy” to
his customers. And Joy is a classic example living the adage “The ultimate measure of man is not where he stands in
moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge
and tribulations!"
May your good work
continue, Joy! God bless you.
You can know more about
Joy and work in his FB page (yes he has a FB page as well!).
As I took leave of him, two
things became apparent – clothes do speak and stitching women’s clothes
is after all no ordinary matter!
