CHENNAI: Rupa Ram, The Clever Tailor’s protagonist, wants to stitch something for everyone. He is someone most of us would’ve encountered in life — a simple, yet generous man, troubled by an unfulfilled dream. Rupa is famous but a poor tailor. He laments about not having enough to stitch for his own family, only until he is gifted a brand new saafa at a wedding.
The Clever Tailor is a delightful children’s book written by Srividhya Venkat and illustrated by Nayantara Surendranath. The book was part of first of 20 book launches planned by the publishing house, Karadi Tales, for the coming months. The book is an adaptation of a European folktale known by many names —The Tailor and his Button, The Tailor’s Jacket, Something from Nothing, and so on.
The idea for the book came three years back, when Srividhya took up the art of storytelling in Singapore, where she lives currently. “I first heard the original folktale from my mentor, professional storyteller, Roger Jenkins. Inspired by him, I decided to adapt and retell the story in an Indian form. That’s when The Clever Tailor began to develop,” she shares.
In the European folktale, the tailor makes things for himself. But Rupa Ram, our clever tailor, is different. Srividhya explains that he knows how to reuse things in a unique way, a craft much needed in today’s world. The major challenges included, adding ‘her touch to the original story and the struggle to create a picture book manuscript out of the adaptation. It was made for oral storytelling, as different from simply reading the book to someone.
The book’s design is vibrant with bandhini prints, mustard yellows, and bright pinks, drawing direct inspiration from Rajasthani textiles. Some pages depict a character’s regular day, and some others illustrate a single moment or outburst of feeling. The part in the story where Rupa is gifted a saafa, for instance, shows the saafa trailing out of his turban to form a road on which the wedding procession takes place. Nayantara shares that a fair amount of research went into the design before she put pencil to paper. “I researched prints and patterns that were specific to that part of the country,” says Nayantara.
In the story, Rupa proudly wears his saafa, but he cannot forget his dream. When the time comes, he decides to make something for everyone in his family. As the narrative of the book progresses, one keeps wondering what the clever tailor would make next. And true to his character, Rupa Ram leaves his family, the people in his town, and all his readers, with something.