~ Pintoo - My Roadside Tailor...~

He is my Ad-hoc stich-man and occupies a pavement on the roadside, always chirping and laughing, his demeanor is effervescent and bubbly – many a time I see him sitting idle and talking to himself with a laugh on his face – I wonder whom he is talking with as visibly I could see no one – a ghost may be or some anonymous being which only he can sense – Alas, whatever may be ‘Pintoo’ as he likes to call himself is a great human being!

He is my new found friend, a trusted human being who is all by himself and does his stich work with perfection – mind you, he is polio ridden and can barely walk but alas, he drives a cycle which he bought with his ‘hard work’ and learn to balance over a period of time – life can be tricky and demanding at the same time and he is a perfect example of both virtue of his living.

How I met him is a tale in itself, just the other day, I was searching for a workman who could alter my kids school uniforms, it was a basic job which any low-end tailor could do and I was not expected to go to a full branded cloth showroom to have it done.

As I was engrossed in my worldly thoughts, I could see a young man sitting with his sewing machine and trying to mend some clothes which his customers had given him – the pile of clothes next to him made it amply clear that he was a master of his art and people had trust in his abilities.

Seeing his visible inference, I approached him and showed him what I was expecting out of him and asked him one stupid question “Will you be able to do it?” [ ‘Kar Paoge Bhaiya!”], he laughed and said “Kyon Nahi, yeh toh Roz ka kaam hai Bhaiya ” [Why not?, this is my everyday job sir!”] – his confidence was a stamp on the work he had earned from me and immediate I gave him the dresses which he had to be mended – as a concerned customer, the next concerned question was “ how much price will you take for this?” , he halted and gave a aimed look at the dresses and quickly calculated the amount of effort he would take to fix and amend the dresses – then he spoke with an unusual trance “ Bhaiya kuch bhi de dena 😊, pehle kaam dekhna” [Brother, give me anything you like, first see the work!]

I was impressed by his confidence or rather overconfidence as only time would tell as a benchmark of his words – as I asked him the time when I should come to collect it – he said “ 2 hours will be sufficient as I have other pending work” – as this worked for me and I was in no hurry, I left and expected things to be rightly fixed after the decided time.

Time passed by as I got consumed with my daily chores, suddenly I was reminded of the impending task and that led me quickly to Pintoo as he was sitting in his usually demeanour stitching and consumed in his own thoughts – though ever smiling – another ‘hi’ started the conversation …

“Ho gayi Pintooji?” [“is it done Pintoo?], as I asked, as his key panache, he replied in affirmative, smiling and reverted …”Sir, please check!” – as his confidence was exuding with conviction, I checked was I was looking and Pintoo lived upto his expectations – his work was perfection executed and he truly lived upto expectations.

He finally asked “Bhaiya, sab theek hai na, koi kami toh nahi reh gayi?” [Brother, hope everything is ok and as per your expectations.], I replied in affirmative and thanked him – as I asked him about his background and whereabouts as till recently, I had seen him occupying this place – his reply was quick …

“Bhaiya I am from UP and was a tailor in my village, now that there is not much work and I have three kids to raise, I cannot afford to be in my native village and is seeking opportunities here.” As he continued, “ I can’t afford a rented shop as of now so I bought my sewing machine along with and have set up a roadside shop to earn my bread and butter!”

Truly, Pintoo was fighter, affected with polio and with much effort, cycling to his ‘Workplace and home to and fro’ ,he was an example everyone can emulate – what human grit can make one achieve – the best part was still his ‘Smile’ – with such decrepit situation life had offered him, he was happy and living a more or less satisfied life….

As finally he was asked the final question “Pintoo, how much for this piece of work…?”, he stood by his previous answer “Bhaiya, jo aap theek samjho who de do…” [Brother, whatever you deem fit, give…], he had conquered me in a way… A man not greedy about Money in today’s world where everyone is fighting hard to earn that extra buck, Pintoo was a genre in himself…

I could not resist asking him one last question “Pintoo, why don’t you have a price of work which you do? there must be people who would give you much less than what your effort is…his plain and simple reply was “ Bhaiya, dene walla toh who hai , aap aur who log kaun hotey hain?” [Brother, who are you to give me, it is HIM who is responsible for what should be given to me], his answer was full of magical prudence and I kept on thinking about my new found friend “Pintoo” …hope what I gave him for his services was adequate and that his faith on HIM remained astounded….