I have always been fascinated by machines and technology। For me the main fascination is "How does that thing work?”, or even better “Can I contribute in creating one of them?". As a kid, I always wondered seeing a person riding a bicycle, "How does he stay upright and not fall?" or "How do they make that thing?”. So from very early I was thinking like an engineer. :) And even though I never consciously pursued to be an engineer, all stars aligned during my schooling years and helped me purse a career which I never knew I was made for. And today, even though I’m not the best engineer going around, I love what I do and that’s got be priceless.
Anyways, another machine which always caught my fancy was good old sewing machine. We used to have one of these (see below) in our house and as a kid, I used to watch - wide eyed - the ladies at home mending torn clothes or tailors on the ground floor shop stitching shirts and pants for their customers. Among lot of others things, I wanted to be that tailor and create that amazing shirt out of a piece of cloth. Even though I did get a chance to play with a sewing machine at home a bit here and there, like replacing the main spindle of thread or bobbin or operate the pedal under supervision, but never was allowed to operate it independently.
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Now cut to recent past, i.e. last week, I saw and touched that sewing machine again. Even though this machine was not the same as one pictured above but it still very much behaved like one. These machines have gone through tremendous transformation from being all mechanical to one where now they use electricity and are so much easier to operate.
The place where I come from, one of the stereotypes is that man of the house never operates sewing machine. It’s women’s job, even though majority of tailors in India were/are men. So when we borrowed the machine from a friend of ours on Monday last week, my wife promptly assumed the responsibility of operating it. The other reasons behind it were that she had taken a quick “how to operate this beast” lesson before getting it and also she knew the nitty gritty of sewing from her mother during her teenage years. We both got to work immediately and sew caftan for Samyak and I on the same night. I hovered around helping her with the measurements, cutting etc. Seeing how natural she was with sewing and also machine being on loan, I did not want to take the reins and ruin it by not operating it properly.
After couple of days, I went to Spotlight to source a material for Aarnav’s caftan. Once done, we would all be set to present ourselves as Africans in a much anticipated dress-up birthday party. Next day was Saturday and Jyo was busy with Aarnav and some mundane household work. The cloth and sewing machine was on the table and I could not resist any further, I had to do it and yes, I did it. I sewed a cloth and created that shirt I always wanted to create and all my childhood memories associated with this machine came rushing back to me. Sure it was not perfect but hey, who cares, it’s the process of creation which I enjoyed.
Yes! It took me nearly 20yrs but I have lived one of my childhood dreams. What’s next?? Of course will buy a sewing machine very soon and create and pass some happy memories to my kids.
PS: Samyak was itching to get his hands on the sewing machine too.
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