MADURAI: A stitch in time saved Malliga Manasekaran, quite literally. When her husband Manasekaran was grievously injured in an accident in 2000 and a metal plate was implanted in his thigh, the family was staring down at a severe financial crisis. The doctor had warned him not to apply pressure on the leg, shattering his career prospects on the sewing machine. With hardly any options around, Malliga began to assist her husband in stitching.
She did not stop at routine tailoring work. Hoping to expand the business, she took part in a professional tailoring class organised by the Small Industries Product Promotion Organisation (SIPPO) in 2010. She opted to make cloth and jute bags along with the regular stitching works.
“Out of the 25 women who took the 55-day tailoring training, I was the only one to carry on with tailoring over the years,” she says. Now, Malliga, from A Vallalapatti in Madurai, owns a small jute bag manufacturing unit, making jute and cloth bags for sale on an order basis across Tamil Nadu and Kerala. A Class 8 dropout, she now trains other women from her locality in tailoring.
“I bought two tailoring machines to begin our manufacturing unit in 2011 by taking a loan of `1 lakh. At first, we didn’t get many orders for the bags, but after we placed stalls in several expos across the state and in other states as well, we gained exposure,” Malliga says. Like many other cottage industries, she too faced a major roadblock during the Covid-19 lockdown. It was difficult to get orders for some months even after the lockdown had ended, she says.
“The ban on plastic bags and promotion of cloth bags by the state government has given a boost to cloth bag manufacturers like me. We are gradually regaining our footing. We try to improve bag design based on trends, in an attempt to attract people of all ages. We have equipped ourselves with embroidery machines. Currently, we are manufacturing eight varieties of bags including school bags, purses and carry bags for sale on an order basis. We have received multiple awards over the years,” she adds proudly.
She wants her children to complete at least undergraduate degrees so that they can expand the business. Her daughter is studying in college and along with that, helps her out on the digital marketing side of the products.“Over a decade ago, I started with just two tailoring machines. Now, we have eight of them and an embroidery machine. We will continue to expand our operations,” she concludes.