Parichita Tailoring And Trainning School

Down here in Fair Lands, Salem, we have our tailoring school on the Kalyana Mandapam Road. It’s a part of the Co Operative Society building. When you walk in, the first thing you hear is the rhythmic sound of the sewing machines. We have rows of them set up for the students. There are scraps of fabric everywhere—bits of cotton, silk, and polyester in every color you can think of. We teach people how to cut patterns and how to handle a needle without poking themselves too much. It’s a very hands-on place. I spend my days moving from one table to another, checking the stitches and showing how to fix a bobbin. We don't have any fancy computer-aided design stuff; we do it all with chalk, measuring tapes, and scissors. The room can get a bit warm in the afternoons, so we keep the fans going at full speed. People from all over Salem come here to learn a skill so they can start their own little shops. We keep our records in big thick books and use a blackboard to draw the outlines of blouses and shirts. It’s a simple setup, but it’s always full of people talking and working. We focus on the practical side of things, like how to sew a straight line.