Stitching together a colourful past
In his heyday as a tailor, 76-year-old Esakkita Pillai Kathiravel would spend hours working the foot paddle of a Singer sewing machine in a comfortable room at “Braemer’, the residence of former President J.R. Jayewardene at Ward Place, making stylish and intricate saree blouses for the First Lady Elina Jayewardene. Being a much sought after tailor of ladies’ clothes, he would also spend hours working in the homes of many prominent families in Colombo.
The forgotten tailor: Kathiravel
But today, Kathiravel’s life is a far cry from the colourful life he spent as a tailor for many years. Now he sleeps on a makeshift bed on the pavements of Kathiresan Street in Kotahena and survives on the generosity of a young man in the neighbourhood who ensures that he gets three meals a day.
Kathiravel who hailed from a family of tailors in South India had arrived in Sri Lanka at a young age and took up the family trade at the age of 13. He learnt to sew from his father after moving to Sri Lanka then Ceylon sometime in the 1930s. The family ran a small tailoring shop on Kathiresan Street.
“We were very popular among many prominent families in Colombo who wanted clothes sewn for their womenfolk. I learnt to make saree blouses, frocks and other women’s clothing,” he said.
But it was the opportunity he got to sew for the wife of former President J.R. Jayewardene that gave him the most satisfaction says this humble man, recalling memories of those days with a twinkle in his eyes.“There was another tailor who used to make Madam’s (President Jayewardene’s wife’s) saree blouses but one day he fell sick and I had to go in his place. As he did not recover for several months, I became the regular tailor at their residence,” he recalled.
When his services were needed, a car would fetch him from his home at Kotahena at 8 in the morning and he would be dropped off by 3 p.m. each day after work.
“One day I was working late into the night as Madam had to leave on an official tour overseas the next day and I had to finish sewing the saree blouses for her to take with her. Around three in the morning, the President woke up and found I was still working. He asked me to go and sleep and continue with the work only after I had rested. He was very kind to me,” Kathiravel recollected fondly.
Another special occasion on which Kathiravel sewed for the First Lady was for the wedding of her grandson. “She was a very nice person. I was well looked after when I was in her home and was paid Rs. 200 for every blouse I made,” he said.
Caring young man: Rishard
Kathiravel was given his Sri Lankan citizenship during the tenure of the late President as well as the deeds to a property in Kotahena which he was swindled out of subsequently. He is now homeless.
Another prominent home that Kathiravel worked in was that of one time minister and MP from Mulkirigala, the late George Rajapaksa.
Deputy Minister Nirupama Rajapaksa, daughter of George Rajapaksa recollected clearly the time that Kathiravel worked in their house in Colombo.
“He would sew my Ladies’ College uniforms, the lama sari I wore to temple, saree blouses and even some of my brother’s clothes. It was a time we could not find stylish clothes in the shops but because of Kathiravel we always had very stylish clothes to wear. He was excellent in his sewing,” Ms. Rajapaksa said. She also recalled his humble nature. “He was a good, simple person. He was the only tailor for many of the big families in Colombo then,” she added.
For Kathiravel, the silver lining of late in his otherwise bleak situation now has come by way of 19-year-old Mohamed Rishard who grew up in the same area and has known Kathiravel from his childhood. Having been abandoned by his father at a young age, Rishard was raised by his mother and seeing Kathiravel’s plight , took up the task of ensuring that the old man never went hungry.
“He is a very kind man and has no bad habits like smoking or drinking. I am happy to help him in whatever little way I can,” said Rishard who works as a shop assistant in the vicinity. “For the past three years, this boy has been giving me my meals. I am very lucky that he looks after me,” said Kathiravel who has remained unmarried.
It is to Rishard’s care that Kathiravel has entrusted his treasured file of damp and faded old letters, telegrams, cards etc. Among them are telegrams sent to him by his customers asking him to come urgently for some sewing work and letters thanking him for his work. In the stack of paper is also the documentation regarding his lost house, old bills, an old passport and a thank you card.
With his parents dead and his two sisters having moved back to India, it is the unexpected hand of friendship extended to him by a young man that has given Kathiravel some comfort in the evening of his life.
As we sit in a small neighborhood tailor shop chatting with him, the young tailors there are in awe of Kathiravel’s ability to still thread a needle without wearing spectacles. Then he sits at the old sewing machine in the shop and begins to work the foot paddle. For a moment it’s like the old days for Kathiravel, when the sound of the sewing machine filled the air and he turned plain cloth into a garment of perfect fit and style.