“This is the one-shoulder dress,” says Rajjiya Begum excitedly showing off a dark blue outfit embellished with sequins and beads. At my puzzled look — she’s so excited that I can barely make out what she’s saying — she kindly explains, “The kind actor Rambha wears.” Her colleagues howl with laughter, while her stupefied teacher murmurs, “The only example you could find was Rambha?”
I am at the Libas Tailoring Centre, run by the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Coimbatore, in Karumbukadai. Tucked away in a small by-lane, the institute is part of the Hidhaaya College campus. M Abdul Hakim, the public relations secretary, gives me an overview of the work being done by the organisation.
“We began the tailoring centre to give women from our community a way to stand on their own feet,” says Hakim. “But the course proved so popular that we opened it to all women.” He recalls how they began with just two machines and 10 students. “Today we have around 15 machines and 75 students per batch.”
Inside the single room that is the tailoring centre, the steady whirr of the sewing machine mingles with the chatter of the women. On lines strung up across the room are samples of the various clothes they have made. One girl is gathering up all the bits and pieces that form the detritus of the day’s work. Some of the previous batch of students has dropped in to meet Rasheeda Begum, the teacher. Their bonhomie and cheerfulness is both inclusive and infectious.
A students puts away her work in her album
Rasheeda explains that the centre has been around for 14 years. “We have trained more than 1000 women here,” she says proudly, as she shows off her students’ work — various kinds of embroidery stitches, cuts for blouses, baby clothes, frocks, pyjamas and a lot more. The minute she stops, her students begin. They pull forward their albums and show me exactly what they’re talking about. I am carried away on a flood of umbrella cuts and A-cuts; embellishments using beads, sequins and zardosi, how they have to be very careful when they cut their cloth and more.
Some women trained here work with garment manufacturing companies. Like Kausalya, who has just gotten a job with a local company. “It’s all thanks to this certificate,” she says. “I am now in training and will be moved to the production line next month.” Others prefer to go it on their own. As Rajjiya put it, “We are not bound by someone else’s timings.” She started by making clothes for friends and relatives and “then they told people and word spread.” Kannamma raises the most important point: that the certificate is issued by the government polytechnic institute. This means that the women have access to bank loans if they want to work from home.
Samples of all the work done so far
While she’s happy that the course has helped so many women stand on their own feet, Rasheeda rues the fact that she’s only able to teach the basic stuff. “Things have advanced so much,” she says. Rajjiya and her friend, Rizwana, promptly agree. “We look up the latest styles on the Internet and then ask ma’am to show us how it’s done,” they giggle and pull out samples of fancy blouses to show me what they mean.
Earlier, Hakim had spoken of the need to expand the programme and Rasheeda too refers to it. “We need at least 30 more machines to keep up with the demand,” she says. “But where will we go for the space?” Her eyes travel around the room overflowing with machines, cloth, accessories and women. Her students are emphatic that the course must expand not only in numbers but also in terms of upgrading the syllabus. “But that is set by the government,” protests Rasheeda. “So what?” asks one girl. “Things have changed since then.”
Rajjiya has great plans. “You know, there are very fancy blouses that cost up to ₹3000.” Involuntarily my eyes go the ‘fancy’ model in her album. “This is nothing,” she flicks the page nonchalantly. “The kind I’m talking about takes a whole day to make. If we can learn things like that, we can do so much more.” Her colleagues all nod in agreement.
As I prepare to leave, I carry with me the image of a determined Rajjiya and others like her learning to dream big in that small room.
Quick facts
The tailoring course is run in three shifts every day. “At least 60 finish the course,” says Rasheeda when asked about drop-outs. She maintains a register with the names of all those who have expressed interest in the course. There are around 500 names there, “and more come each day.”
Apart from the six-month tailoring course, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Coimbatore, also conducts medical camps that include counselling for youngsters and a three-year Islamic studies course for girls including a course in computers
The institute also organises workshops on making jewellery from beads and wires for the students
Libas Tailoring Institute, Hidhaaya College Campus, 58, Saramedu Main Road, Karumbukadai. Contact them at 0422-2260418
