CHENNAI: From an ingenious mobile tailoring shop parked outside Porur’s Kanniyappan Salai Poonga, Ramakrishna Nagar, actor-turned-politician MG Ramachandran’s hit song — Nenjam Undu Nermai Undu blares. Fifty-three-year-old Ramalingam, owner of the shop mouths the lyrics while stitching a curtain. A roof protecting him from the searing heat, a mini fan, a light bulb, and radio are what we find inside the unit. “I designed this store about 13 years ago,” says the bespectacled tailor as he dials down the radio, preparing himself to tell us about his journey.
“I was in class 9 when my father took me to a tailoring shop. He wanted me to earn, and I joined as an apprentice in a small shop, and that’s how I learned this art,” says Ramalingam who has been in the trade for over a decade. As he narrates, he takes a detour and tells us how he was, once, almost part of the Indian Army. “My father was a Sepoy, and I wanted to become one too. I trained hard for it, cleared all my entrance exams and was selected to be part of the army. But, I was asked to pay Rs 5,000. I refused to pay, and that was the end of my dream. I never went back...I am a man of integrity,” he says.
In the early 80s, Ramalingam started working in leather manufacturing units and other companies for a living. “I have worked in 30-odd companies as a tailor. I cannot see anyone with a torn attire...if I do, I make it a point to stitch for them. It was one such incident that triggered me to start my own tailoring shop,” he explains.
The manager of a company, which Ramalingam worked for, prohibited him from stitching clothes of his co-workers. “I wasn’t stitching for a fee. I was helping my co-workers who sometimes wore torn clothes to work. When the manager asked me not to do it, I quit my job and started my own shop. I remodeled a cycle, installed a TV, radio and what not. This vehicle has everything!” he says.
Ramalingam is an icon in Porur, and his customers say that they know his value. “I have been his customer for many years. He is trustworthy and reliable. I look up to him as an inspiration,” shares a customer. From altering clothes, stitching salwar suits to other costumes, he does it all. “Since I am always on the move, people call me to find out my coordinates. The stitching fee is reasonable and depends upon the labour that goes into it, ” he says.
He has a collection of MGR songs in a pen drive. “My shop is famous for playing MGR songs. I feel the social message in each song is important. I also write songs!” he enthuses and recites a poem about world peace. “I wrote this recently,” he beams.
He dreams of starting a mobile food stall, which will serve healthy home-cooked food. “I started one a few months ago. But, it was difficult to manage it, and we had to shut it down. I want to relaunch it in the future,” he shares.
Ask him if he plans to expand his tailoring unit and he shakes his head. “I’ve approached banks for loans. Everyone asks for a ‘solid’ background. I think schemes for micro industries should be made more workable. My tailoring machine is 11 years old. I haven’t replaced it...I don’t earn a fortune. I am just a man who is content and happy with what he has,” says the father of two children.
Future plans
He dreams of starting a mobile food stall which will serve healthy home-cooked food. “I started one a few months ago. But, it was difficult to manage it, and we had to shut it down. I want to relaunch it in the future,” Ramalingam shares.
To contact Ramalingam, call: 9941823824