A few women in the community multitask as tailors, they run micro enterprises from their rooms. They are commissioned to stitch a few pieces, and are paid “per piece”. It’s something they can do while keeping an eye on their children, cook, clean and take care of their homes.
Recently we spotted three girls, inspired by their mothers stitching skills. These girls had found left over pieces of fabric – ‘katran’ as it is called and a few stray spools of thread. Just like all girls their age, they wanted to dress up their dolls. They fashioned the katran into brightly coloured hand made sarees (dresses) for the dolls. Oddly the dolls didn’t have any hair and the girls decided to give them a complete set of hair, using the spools of thread. It was a little tailor’s maker space improvised on a small mat, on the threshold of the entrance to a home.
Across many cultures we find girls exploring the idea of beauty, fashion, ornamentation, play, dress up. Often it is their personal aspirations that are manifested through these games. On asking them what the names of the dolls were, they replied Gudiya 1 and Gudiya 2 (Doll 1 and Doll 2). We found a portal into their inner world, a chance moment to witness them play, make, imagine and dream, right here in the kalonie in kapashera.
