Man of few words, Aiyyelu had a fine sense of humour and enjoyed sharing a joke. A perfectionist, he never thought twice about ripping a seam or redoing a whole dress until the fit was absolutely right and comfortable to the dancer. Here was a Karma Yogi whom Rudyard Kipling had described in his poem IF .
His work ethics were of a high order and a matter of honour to him. I met him on two occasions after his shop was flooded and all the expensive saris given to him were ruined. He merely said that he needed to locate similar material and get the costumes ready on time. No whimper.
I once gave two saris to make costumes for my two daughters, which he delivered as required. Two years later, I learnt that he had bought a sari to replace the one given to him. When I checked with him, he merely said the sari I had given went missing and he bought one. He brushed it aside with a joke, leaving me stunned.
In my short story, Ammavin Koorai Pudavai (Mother’s Bridal Saree), I was happy to portray him and his shop. He chuckled on reading the story.
A gentle man, a gentleman and an artiste of rare aesthetics and extraordinary skill, he was a legend in his own time and will remain one for all time.
Magic touch
In a situation, where artistes and brand images are celebrated, we often find the craftsmen being relegated to the background.
One man who started out tailoring costumes only as his livelihood, perfected it to an art by itself. He was D.S. Aiyyellu, who passed away on Monday last.
There may not be a dancer, whose costume he did not design.
From Arangetram to mega productions, they made a beeline to his humble shop in Alwarpet, Chennai. His magical touch worked wonders on every dancer so much so that his name became synonymous with Natya.
Many years ago, when I was designing costumes for dancers, I was fascinated by the gold crushed tissue material that had come into the market.
Excited, I approached a few tailors with the material to be used as a fan in the costume. They rejected the material outright. I approached this little man sitting with yards of material spread out in his little shop.
The moment I showed him the crushed tissue material, all that he said with a little smile was “Vechhuttu ponga, Panni parkalam” (Leave it here. Let me try). The outcome was a beautiful crushed tissue fan which became a huge hit among the dancers. His creative spark pushed him to constantly experiment and explore, a streak, which made him an artiste par excellence.
