TIRUPPUR: Are you looking for someone?,” asked the watchman standing outside a garment unit. “Where does Ulaganathan sit?,” we asked. The watchman pointed towards a man sitting at one side of the enormous hall, busy with a set of needles.
Meet R Ulaganathan, a 34-year-old visually impaired tailor from Tiruppur, blooming among several thousand tailors at one of the largest hubs for textile emporiums in Tamil Nadu. Unaware of his surroundings, he was stitching with utmost precision without a blink. After all, it is a profession he has been practicing for more than 10 years.
Son of a daily wage labourer, Ulaganathan dropped out of school after sixth standard. “I was never interested in studies. My fascination shifted towards tailoring as my neighbourhood was surrounded by garment companies. Within a few years of learning, I grasped all the basics. Gradually my quality and production increased, following which I got a job at a garment unit owned by a leading garment group in Tamil Nadu,” said a very enthusiastic Ulaganathan.
However, the tricenarian’s life took a turn a few years ago. “It was just like any other morning sometime in December 2016. On my way to work, as a daily ritual, I stopped at a tea shop. A few minutes later, I stepped out and was kick-starting my bike. Within a fraction of a second, out of the blue, a bus rammed into my bike throwing me miles away. Though my injuries were treated, I began to experience frequent dizziness and blurriness in my vision. And what happened next changed everything. One morning, suddenly, I could see nothing. When I rushed to the hospital, the ophthalmologist diagnosed that my optic nerves were damaged due to the accident,” he took a pause, and continued, “The news destroyed my career and life. For several weeks, I fell into depression. With no vision, I cannot work as a tailor.”
Nevertheless, he changed this moment of horror in a surprisingly positive way. “I thought if I continued this way, my life would crumble. I was determined not to depend on anyone. I was afraid but decided to continue tailoring. I wasn’t worried about the needle injuring my fingers, but about the blades. When I attempted stitching first, post my accident, I injured my fingers thrice with the blades,” he said.
C Rathinasamy, president of Saksham Trust, an NGO that works for the welfare of disabled persons, said, “We have been offering free training for disabled persons for the garment industry in the last several years. Many of them receive a good salary and are employed in leading garment units. But, when we met Ulaganathan as he applied for a disability card, we couldn’t believe it. It is very difficult to work as a tailor. Even a small mistake could injure him badly. But, Ulaganathan is very quick and stitches with the precision of a surgeon.”
What sets Ulaganathan apart is his undying spirit of stitching. “Though I have no vision, I know the mechanism by-heart. It is a simple, yet complex process involving four threads, a needle, and a bobbin rotating as the machine is under operation. With fingers, I measure the length of the cloth and mentally determine the speed of the needle. It is all about timing the speed of the needle. Though I cannot work as a normal tailor, I am assigned to shoulder, neck stitching, and other minor stitching works,” Ulaganathan explained.
His wife, Bhuvaneshwari, now accompanies him everywhere. The couple has been married for about nine years now. She learnt tailoring after that and both of them worked in a garment unit. Although shock and despair engulfed her mind after her husband’s accident, Bhuvaneshwari remained strong, despite lack of support from family. She now works alongside him, and they help each other look at the life’s brighter side.