The Hindu : Karnataka News : Tailor-made to teach others

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Wednesday, Dec 12, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Tailor-made to teach others

Firoz Rozindar

Six-year-old Suhas has over 50 students

Little master: Suhas teaching tailoring techniques to students at his house in Chitradurga.

Chitradurga: After returning from school, most children like to play or watch television. But for six-year-old Suhas, it’s time to take a pencil and a pair of scissors in hand and teach women three times his age the art of tailoring.

This second standard student’s only passion is stitching clothes and sharing his knowledge with others. Suhas has over 50 students whom he teaches in two batches.

His mother, Shashikala, who has been running a small tailoring shop here for 10 years, lost her husband two years ago. He was also a tailor.

Keen interest

She said Suhas began showing an interest in tailoring when he was four years old.

“I found him cutting paper with a pair of scissors most of the time. Afraid that he would get hurt, I tried stopping him, but to no avail. He would somehow manage to stitch even in the toilet to sharpen his skills.”

Realising his keen interest, she stopped preventing him from stitching and began teaching him the tricks of the trade.

Today, Suhas spends over four hours conducting classes in his small house cramped with sewing machines. “He teaches us in a simple manner, which we find very easy to grasp,” said Shweta, one of his students.

She said Suhas had acquired so much expertise that by merely looking at the size of the cloth he could judge whether it would be enough for a dress.

Suhas is not sure what he wants to become, but his mother hopes he does not stick to tailoring.

“There is no money in this profession. I was not even able to pay the capitation fee to admit him to a reputed school. I had to send him to another school,” she said.

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