“I have learnt the skill of tailoring from my father. Well, there are many changes in the tailoring in the recent past. Most of my time is spent on stitching shirts, suits and trousers. When I started my career as a tailor, we used to get rice grains and wheat instead of money as compensation for our work. That was the culture back then in most of the places in our state. But everything has changed now.

I am 59 and I continue to use the old sewing machines which were owned by my father. If there is a problem, I have a person who comes here to repair it for me.

How much I earn depends on the season.
My peak period is during the festival season from August to February. I had to work around the clock to complete the orders, especially during the Medaram Jatara time. But the business is quite low now a days.

We have all practised the profession traditionally but my children aren’t willing to take up this profession. I cannot force them to do this but I just hope they could run the shop along with other commitments. Let’s see what the future holds for us.”