The tailor-made author

The thread that plays in my hand the scissors that fit snugly in my grip the machine that whirs swiftly the measuring tape that sways around my neckthese things have become integral to my life says Vithu the tailor protagonist of Usvan seams come apart the novel which recently won the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2024 As Vithu expresses a deep attachment to his ancestral occupation especially the fond feelings for the tools that his family lived off for two generations we can hear echoes from other literary works Lead characters shaped by Munshi Premchand Godaan and Rangnath Pathare Pachola speak Vithursquos language His thoughts resonate with Thomas Hoodrsquos The Song of the Shirt which portrays the dehumanising working conditions of seamstresses in Industrial era LondonmdashldquoSeam and gusset and band Band and gusset and seam Till over the buttons I fall asleep And sew them on in a dreamrdquoVithursquos voice seems the voice of many who lament the loss of livelihood options particularly tailoring Interestingly Vithursquos creator author Devidas Saudagar is a 33yearold tailorbydaywriterbynight He lives in Tuljapur Saudagar always wanted Vithu to be a carrier of multiple stories ldquoVithu seems to tell my story but the narrative moves beyond the autobiographical mode He represents all tailors of smalltown India who currently face economic crises They cannot sustain their families as their clients are fastmoving towards readytowear massproduced garmentsrdquo says the debutant novelist His shop Saudagar Tailors at one point a bustling enterprise in the Mangalvaarpeth market shut down postCOVID in 2022 Saudagar hopes to reopen his shop one day when circumstances improve The award is definitely a ray of hope in Saudagarrsquos life as it brings him critical acclaim and encouragement from peersreaderslitterateursbook publishers to take on his second proposed novel on unemployed youth in rural MaharashtraSaudagarrsquos novel Usvan recently won the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2024ldquoTailoring is a way of life and a means of survival for me My father took to tailoring after he couldnrsquot survive as a farm labourerrdquo says the author clarifying that while many professions are admittedly castedriven in India Usvan deliberately does not identify the protagonist Vithu as a shimpi tailor by caste Vithu is presented as a working class servicegiver who cannot make two ends meet He is a clever craftsman devoted to deadlines But over the years he loses the meaty orders and is left with small jobs of mending tears darning holes sewing buttons altering hems repairing zippers and stitching school cloth bags and political party flagsldquoA tailor like Vithu is the inexpensive fallback option for quick fixes but not a conscious choice for intricate highend designer clothing orders I felt such a person should not be defined by caste but by the lack of means and status The novel is about underprivileged struggling skilled professionals in our villages who have not found newer sources of sustenancerdquo says Saudagar who feels the award for Usvan will put the spotlight on the occupational crisis faced by reallife tailors and other labourerscraftsmen all over MaharashtraUsvan captures the decade starting from 2006 a period marked by the opening up of the readymade garment industry in India and significant leaps in mobile phone usage Usvan also cautiously treads the political landscape It holds no reference to the Maratha morchas or the rise of the OBCs in Maharashtra politics Though set in the recently renamed Dharashiv earlier Osmanabad the novel makes only veiled references to warring caste groups and bickering political factions of Marathwada It doesnrsquot once mention the ouster of the Congress party by the BJP at central and state levelsSaudagar says party politics and caste dynamic are not his areas of interest though they would have undoubtedly generated juicy fiction Hersquod rather focus on an evolving social dynamic around readytowear massproduced clothingldquoI am trying to locate the slow death of the institution of the family tailor in our villages I am writing about the young tailors myself included who are socially unfit and financially unstablerdquo Saudagar took to tailoring after trying out odd jobs and even dropping out of school at one point He later opted for open university education to complete his Bachelorrsquos and Masterrsquos degrees and meanwhile espoused fulltime writing as a vocation At this point he writes only at night or dawn reserving daytime for the responsibilities of a family of two children a wife and elderly parents His younger brother has taken temporary recourse to poultry farmingWhat stands out in Usvan is that it is not a sob story The sorry state of Vithu and Gangarsquos life is obvious Their children cannot go for a school picnic Lunch is amtibhakrikanda a cup of chai is the sole respite from the relentless backbreaking cutandstitch routine Turmeric powder is the only affordable medication for any injury Amidst deepening penury Ganga depends on food grains donated by neighbours to keep the kitchen flames burningLiterally and metaphorically the household pieces together scraps and offcuts to eke out a living But beyond these vignettes of scarcity Vithursquos life is infused with unique experiences that enlighten the reader too Vithu is a proficient tailor who wholeheartedly serves his village fulfilling the role of the trusted seamster who always attends to small mending needs He is available for the lastminute asks from unescorted kids and dependent relatives He lends a patient earto village eldersteachers but takes on the village money collectors who extort haftas in the name of religion He reminds them of kalyankari Shivaji Maharaj who put peoplersquos welfare before other priorities Vithu holds no resentment towards the more affluent who go to cities to buy new clothes yet he is hurt when money lender Bhima Pawar doesnrsquot compensate him for his labourDaughter Nanda is a bright spot in Vithursquos life She deeply respects her fatherrsquos strong work ethic and her motherrsquos unwavering devotion to the household She is a writerinthemaking who appreciates the power of words from an impressionable age Nanda diligently journals her daily ruminations capturing moments both uplifting and despondent She believes that documenting hardships on paper helps to alleviate them Her school essays creatively incorporate metaphorsmdashdelicate threads family fabric seamless supportmdashinspired by the world of tailoring Her lyrical essay Sui bolu lagli tar If the needle starts speaking captures the importance of small objects needlelike in life The positivity in Nanda is infectious It helps Vithu to locate the poetry in his life Interestingly Nanda writes in nagari Marathi taught in textbooks she mentions akhand pravas unending journey Vithu laments deh manji lamblachak chindhi bodymind turning into a long tattered rag Usvanrsquos magic rests on Vithursquos Marathwadi dialect which embodies a unique raw beauty Words like amandhapkya sudden and yelvas special new moon day enrich spoken Marathi Vithu and familyrsquos admiration for mystic poet Kabir and revered saint Namdeomdashboth tailors by professionmdashadds a healing element to the novel transforming it into a vibrant work of art Saint Namdeo finds spiritual liberation in ldquosui aani satuli katri gaj dorardquo needle thread scissors and tape the simple tools that can shape a meaningful life Vithu espouses this definition of simplicity just as he lives up to Kabirrsquos treatment of the human body as a finely woven zhini chadariyaThis columnist is grateful to Usvan for a distinct sense of hope It illustrates that even when onersquos world crumbles and ancestral roots are threatened the power of belief can see us through Saudagar and his hero Vithu cling to the scissors and the measuring tapemdashin the hope of a better fabric of lifeSumedha RaikarMhatre is a culture columnist in search of the subtext You can reach her at sumedharaikarmiddaycom