Subha Unnikrishnan does not measure her success in terms of awards or certificates. She sees it every day when school children wear her well-designed uniforms to school. She sees it when many participants of several reality shows and cultural programmes preen in costumes made by her. All roads in the city seem to lead to her Mahima Stitching Centre at Gowreesapattom if you are a dancer or have a dancer in the family. Her no-frills outlet in the city is filled with shimmering costumes that launch a thousand performers on the small screen.
Shuba says with a smile that perhaps such a career was tailor-made for her, considering her passion for clothes right from a young age. Subha never got to learn sewing or tailoring because “my parents didn’t like it. Academics was important to them.” But she learnt on her own on a sewing machine at home by tailoring dresses, especially kids’ wear, for those in the family.
Marriage came as a blessing for her. “It was my husband, B.Unnikrishnan, who encouraged me to start a unit, which I eventually did in 1991,” she says. But that remained a small-scale venture, since her children were young. So she concentrated on her teaching job at a private institution in the city for 16 years. “Once my children were on their own, I resigned and decided to pay more attention to the unit,” she says. Mahima was opened in 2001.
She started by introducing gift packs for new-borns, which she makes even now as per orders. It comprises dresses, sheets, towels and napkins for babies. Now bulk orders comeaplenty to her, in addition to tailoring regular garments. “As my two children are away (her daughter Divya is a scientist in Bangalore and son Akhilesh is studying in Germany), the unit keeps me busy,” she says.
She has 15 employees under her, both men and women. Of them, three are speech- and hearing-impaired. “My employees are my strength. It isn’t easy to run any business venture these days, for, there is always a shortage of labour. But luckily, I have staff who’ve been working here for many years now,” she says.
“When I do costumes for dance shows, I refer to the original costume. Then I work on the colour and design, making it compatible for the small screen. It is always done in consultation with the choreographer,” she says.
However, she isn’t quite happy with the reality show scenario. “Some parents tend to go overboard when it comes to costumes. They spend as much as Rs.50,000 or even more. I don’t encourage that trend,” she says.
A post-graduate in Botany, she has no regrets that her siblings are doctors, engineers and academicians. “They think I am one step ahead of them! Also, my academic background lends me respect, especially when I go to schools to take orders,” says Subha.
She adds: “This is my passion, my life…In fact, I’ve heard that stitching was considered a holy act as per the Puranas.” She even expands the acronym MCT (Master of College Teaching) on her visiting card as “Master of Cutting and Tailoring”!
Perfect cut
She has designed the school uniform and PT dress of Holy Angels’ School (ICSE), KG uniforms of Arya Central School, uniforms of Good Shepherd School and Nirmala Bhavan (Plus One and Plus Two) and dance costumes for most of the schools, Holy Angels, Christ Nagar (ICSE), MGM Public School and St. Thomas Schools... to name a few.
She also designs uniforms for many play schools and nursery schools in the city.
Her foray into reality show scene was through choreographer Sajna Najam (who choreographs for reality shows like ‘Super Dancer Junior’ on Amrita TV and ‘Indian Voice’ and ‘Veruthe Alla Bharya’ on Mazhavil Manorama).
She has also designed costumes for artistes such as Remya Nambeesan, Navya Nair, Poornima Indrajith, Ananya and Rimi Tomy for various stage programmes .
