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 The Eye of the Needle
Phuluvasi stitches for the community
A tall and majestic woman, Phuluvasi’s regal demeanour goes well with her iron will. At 56, she has seen much, brought up two sons and two daughters, married three of them and looked after a large family for a long time. Originally from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, the family migrated to Mumbai in 1990 because she was ill and needed medication. They stayed on for the opportunities (her husband is an advocate) and they have been living at Andheri’s Subash Nagar slum for 14 years.
When Phuluvasi first came to learn how to stitch at the project-run tailoring classes, she did not even know how to use the measuring tape. But she kept at it with dogged persistence, until she was not only stitching blouses of different types but could also teach her daughter and daughter-in-law. Now, she plans to go back to her hometown in UP often, especially during the summer holidays, to teach the women there. In fact, during her last visit, she passed on her tailoring skills to twenty women. She wants to help them harness their talents in a productive way and tailoring provides this opportunity.
The urge to help her community runs strong in Phuluvasi. She often stitches blouses for women in the neighborhood without charging them. “There is immense pleasure in making someone happy and their faces glow when I stitch their blouses for free,” says Phuluvasi. Her husband agrees: “We need to help others locally. We have enough. There is no need for her to help me financially.”
For Phuluvasi, being able to help others despite the handicap of illiteracy is a great joy. She motivates other women in the community to join the tailoring class so that they can supplement their earnings. Inspired by her, many women in the community have joined the tailoring classes and today 15 students attend the class in two batches.
Many of these women are not allowed outside the home. They are also handicapped by lack of education. The tailoring class gives them an opportunity to use their skills and earn an additional income. In an average week, the women stitch up to 15 blouses, charging between Rs 30 and Rs 70 for each blouse. It is possible to earn up to Rs 7,000 during the festival season, and the extra money is much needed in many of these households.
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