Rawalpindi’s tailoring duo: Threaded together over time

Working in Lunda Bazaar for over 30 years, the two remind of a time that is quickly fading

RAWALPINDI: Necessity is often a key compulsion to undertake even the unlikeliest of tasks. This is what brought an elderly man and elderly woman together to tailor clothes together in a small Rawalpindi shop for the past 30 odd years.

At first sight, it appears that 70-year-old Muhammad Suleman and 64-year-old Shakeela appear to be a husband and wife duo running a regular tailoring shop on Iqbal Road near Committee Chowk.

But they are not.



Talk to them and you discover that they are but co-workers.

“I have been sewing clothes in the same bazaar since 1963,” says Suleman unassumingly.

Stooping over a sewing machine for over 50 years has left the old man with a hunched back. His thick spectacles sit on the edge of is nose as he crosses his legs to squat on the ground and cut a piece of cloth meant to become part of a male customer’s shirt.

“I could not get an education and I left school before matriculation. Hence, I had no choice but to gain some skill [to make a living],” Suleman says.

Eventually, he says, he learnt how to sew clothes and a means to support his family.

The story of his nearly-as-wrinkled co-worker is less straightforward.

Originally from Narowal, Shakeela had to opt to enter a male-dominated industry and work in a somewhat exposed store.

“I saw Suleman sahib sewing clothes in the shop in Lunda Bazaar and asked him to provide me with some work as I knew how to sew clothes,” Shakeela recalled.

She recounted how she had started sewing clothes when her husband had lost his job. Later, when he divorced Shakeela, she had to continue with the work to support her family.

“After the divorce, I started sitting in the shop with Suleman,” Shakeela said, adding that she became a regular at the store back in 1984, adding that she used to sew clothes for women but had started focusing on men’s clothes after joining Suleman.

“He [Suleman] was kind enough to offer me work”, Bibi said.

Noting that Suleman was a noble and cooperative man, Shakeela said she became quite comfortable working with him and never looked back. “We later became relatives when his son married my daughter,” she said.

Over the years, many things have changed in the bazaar including the size of the market – which previously had more trees than shops. Today, the market has a hustle and bustle to it with no empty space anywhere.

The taste of men towards clothes has also changed during this time, from simpler clothes to a host of fast evolving fashion. Once considered a skill, tailoring is
now an industry.

“More and more brands are getting in,” the wrinkled tailor says. But after spending 50 years seemingly rooted to the spot, Suleman says he is content – even if his children think otherwise.



He said that all his children, four sons and three daughters, were married and independent. He said that he lived with his wife at his house in Gawalmandi. He said that he believed that he had a happy life as he had not to depend on anyone.

“My children did not take an interest in tailoring. They avoided the work as they saw I could not earn enough,” he says. “But for me, the money I earned was always enough. I was able to support my children and my wife,” Suleman says as he triumphantly points to the fact that he managed to raise his four sons and three daughters, marry them off besides getting a house in Gawalmandi, where he now lives a happy life with his wife and does not have to depend on anyone.

“It has now been 54 years since I have been at the same shop. I love my work and never tried to stop sewing clothes,” the old tailor says with a slight shrug of his drooping shoulders.

Shakeela echoes her co-worker’s feeling towards tailoring.

“All my children, two daughters and a son, are married and independent,” she says adding that she feels she earns enough money from the shop.

“It keeps me busy, gives me enough money and the work gives me a sense of independence.”

Despite living a contended life, Suleman has a few regrets.

“Circumstances at home forced me to leave school before matriculation, and gain some skill so I could begin earning,” he says.

“If given another opportunity, I would first complete my education, and then decide whether or not to learn sewing,” he adds.

Now at the twilight of his life, Suleman says, “Simply tailoring cannot make you rich, but it keeps your life going.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2017.