Sobhana Pushpangadan is a familiar figure around Thrissur’s Nehru Nagar. The sight of her pulling into a driveway on her scooter means that the members of that house had kept a set of material ready for a new salwar kameez or matching pajamas for their children. To many, she is known as the 'family tailor' thanks to her detailed understanding of each person’s fashion preference and an effortless knowledge of their measurements without a single glance at her notebook. When Thrissur came under the scanner of the State Government for a rising number of Coronavirus cases, Sobhana was at the forefront as a volunteer. Among rising fears and misconceptions about the virus, a number of such volunteers struggled to keep up. Sobhana says, “The virus has scared people away from most things that they normally do; even volunteering with local groups might give you a bad name. So the only solution was for me to stop getting involved until the situation improved.”
From politics to newspaper printing, Sobhana has made a space for herself in a number of local industries. So for her, staying at home and waiting for an issue to sort itself out was one of the hardest parts. Until the Central Government declared a nationwide lockdown, the tailor was able to keep herself and her two daughters afloat. Many families made the effort to drive to her house to get their clothes stitched, despite state restrictions, because of their trust in her work. However, the lockdown changed the course of things drastically. Sobhana says, “Following the lockdown, people were too scared to even drive past their own properties. And you can’t expect them to break curfew just to get a nightie stitched! I lost my main source of income as soon as that happened. Without stitching, I am basically at a loss. I have a small home-based business and a small shop nearby, so it reached a point where it was difficult to get by.”
Not one to take any challenge lying down, she decided to explore her options. It was a good friend working at Mathrubhumi’s printing press that offered her a way out. She says, “As many of their employees from Kozhikode and Malappuram were unable to show up for work, I was able to secure a position for myself as a packer in the printing press. This pays just enough for me to stay afloat until the threat of the virus passes.” And as for life after the lockdown, Sobhana has big plans. She hopes that people will be in good spirits once the virus and the fear that surrounds it passes. And a dozen unique design ideas have been circling in this tailor's mind for days. She says, “There’s a lot of work to be done after this and we have a lot of cleaning up to do. I’ll be ready with my scooter when people are ready to let us into their homes again.”
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