The Sewing Machine Of Time ,,

The Sewing Machine Of Time ,,, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

It is easy to get a gents tailor in Mumbai , but finding a ladies tailor who delivers on time and copes of with the women of Mumbai is one very difficult task.. at Bandra Bazar there was a Gujrati tailor who left behind a couple of ladies shops to his many sons ,,,they specialize in cholis and other simple sartorial fare and serve the middle class Hindus Jains and Muslim .. I have hardly seen any Christian lady at their shops.

One of the sons was telling me that their father used to sleep at the waterfront at Gateway of India and saw terrible times , finally he worked hard bought a small hut in a shanty at Santa Cruz ,, today they are all well settled .

One of the oldest Bandra tailors was Advocate Tailors Dhirubhai Parmar , his father started Advocate and today Dhirubhai caters to the third generation , and he has been serving them for over 45 years , I like him , he reminds me of my fathers time ,,My father late Mohomed Shakir was famous both at Wodehouse Road and later whn he shifted his shop which was next to Charagh Din called Ambassador , to Grants Building .. he named it Smart Wear Tailors , and later it was taken over by Billy Shoes Chines shoe makers .. so my Dad took up part time employment with New Lords ..an extension of Charagh Din and Mr Bhagwan Daswani at its helm,.along with Shashi Daswani the young smart polite and enterprising face of Fashion.

So tailoring has been part of my reckoning I hated this line and God pushed me into it I worked at Burlingtons Taj Mahal .. and that was an experience I cant forget Bul Bul Master .. and attending Mr DRD Tata and Mr JRD.. Roger Moore ..Gregory Peck and the cast of Sea Wolves,, Mr Jim Brown , Mr IS Johar , Ashok Hinduja and so many others .. and was lucky to have learnt something under late Mrs Jennifer Kapoor and Late Gaby Kapoor ..Sunita Malgaonkar later Mrs Andre Kapoor Timki Singh , Anne Gracias ,, and Lorraine Rhubottom..

So many memories moments and all attached to a sewing machine of Time ,,, learning about fashion from Renuka Batliwala at her store next to Treasures of India Dhanraj Mahal learning French at the Alliance with Alain Ficat..

Understanding the life times of Leybourne Callaghan Callaghan of India , Mr Rusi Karanjia giving him fittings at Framroze Court , his safaris were exclusively made by my Dad.

And one incident pertaining to my Dad ..He had a chela Govind , Govind made a mistake or something they say my Dad put a hot iron on his back... this was Guru Chela parampara I was very small but later Govind became Govind Master of Colaba and I meet his son when I pass my old house Jony Castle at Wodehouse Road.

I made suits for Mr Dhirubhai Ambani dressed in white dhoti and he once asked me why I wore Dhotis I answered that the Dhoti was the beginning of Fashion and when time comes to go they wrap you in a dhoti too.. he smiled ..

So the sewing machine has not left me there is one at home which I gave my wife a Singer bought in 1988..

And there are many tailoring stories many chapters , they refuse to leave me ,,, Devanand Rajesh Khanna ...and many others ..