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A stitch in time

Photos: K. Ananthan

“I climbed the slopes around Kanchenjunga, to around 16,000ft with none other than Tenzing” — Sulochana Malhotra describes, what she calls her most cherished memory. In the NCC as a Sergeant Major, she and her companions visited the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling. How many women can claim to have shared climbing space with a legend!

“And, my dream was to be a doctor or a dancer,” she continues. She didn’t get the admission for the first, and propriety in those days prevented the pursuit of the second. ‘Thank God for that’ is what many Coimbatoreans would say. For, till just a few years ago, Sulochana’s boutique Pralochana was about the only one of its kind in the city, tending to the sartorial requirements of discerning women.

“Most people think my name is Pralochana”, she smiles. It is actually a combination of her son’s name, Prashanth, and her own. The boutique has been around for 25 years.

Her family migrated to Coimbatore even before Partition. Her dad came here with the British Army and he manned their canteen. It has not been an easy journey — sometimes much more challenging and difficult than that mountaineering episode of her life, she learnt.

At the age of 38, not all that young anymore and with a young son, Sulochana suddenly found herself at crossroads where she had to strike out on her own and do something with her life. When she took stock of what she could do best, it turned out that it was anything to do with stitching, embroidering and tailoring.

Her mom like most Punjabi moms of her generation had ensured her daughter could wield the needle and thread deftly. “I had learnt all there was to learn about sewing by the time I was 15. My mother passed away when I was 16 years old,” she recalls. Direction came unexpectedly. Friends of hers in Bangalore, who owned a popular store there, realised she had an eye for colour, detailing, etc. And since she had a family tailor who would turn out stuff, they asked her if she would be able to supply them tailored outfits for their shop. “They would send me the fabric and I would design, execute and send them back.” But, the real deal happened at a Transactional Analysis session in Coimbatore where Sulochana realised that she had the potential to start a business of her own. Her mentor there, Sashi Chandran urged her to make clothes and present them at a coffee morning. It went well, and from there on by word of mouth people began to patronise her place. (Sulochana was awarded the Entrepreneur Award by the Ladies Circle, and she is an active member of the Crafts Council of India.)

“This was my home,” says Sulochana, of her shop in Nanjappa Road. There are fabrics everywhere and trying to keep pace are her floors that are unabashedly colourful. It is difficult to imagine, but Sulochana recollects the time Nanjappa Road was deserted in the evening by seven and all that was there in her neighbourhood were a few police bungalows. And oh yes, a vadaa joint next door. In fact, it is over cups of tea and the vadaas from the same place that Sulochana speaks of friends dropping in all times of the day for a cuppa. “We would sit around the dining table (where the changing rooms are now) and catch up.

A string tied across her front room served as her display space, on which she would hang her tailored creations. It is all different now, of course. She employs many people – tailors, designers, and other staff mandatory to run a smooth operation. She travels extensively to source fabrics, meet designers and keep abreast of trends and fashions. Speaking of changes in the last quarter of a century, she says, “Simplicity and elegance were the order of the day.” She obviously misses the days when less was more, especially since now there are so many embellishments outfits have in order to be ‘with it’. But, she is relieved things are inching back to simple elegance again.

“I would not do anything differently if I had to start over,” says Sulochana.

She is a great believer in the human spirit. “I was recovering from surgery, and I remember this man who had lost all fingers of his right hand. Just two weeks after his horrible accident, the man was writing with his left hand. I salute such indomitable spirit,” she says. “I have evolved with every difficulty I have faced. I believe that there are no bad people, only good ones. Look at my friends who have stood by me, and my loyal staff. Without them, I am nothing.”

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