| Ladies Tailor (Page 1) Hi, this is chithra sharing with you an experience at the tailor�s. (a fantasy) My name is Chithra . Am 34, married for 8 yrs, mother of a 4 yr old. Once my husband had an invitation to attend an important congregation of commercial photographers. He wanted me to look at my absolute best on that evening which was a week away. Now, I look tempting for a 34 yr old. I am 5 ft 7" , 36C 30 38 and fair. He wanted me to dress up for the occasion. So, I reached my friend Aruna for suggestions. She mentioned about the Raj tailors. She said that the place was *popular* among women and strongly advised me to try it. She finished the statement with a 'wink' in her eyes which confounded me a bit, but I didn't take it serious by then. Up until then, I used to do the stitching of my blouses by myself with the knowledge passed on to me by my mother. I decided to try this place. On a hot and sultry June afternoon I managed to find the tailor shop, after shopping my saree and the matching blouse piece. I was sweating by the time I reached the tailor shop, so the cool air from the air conditioning was a great relief when I entered. I was greeted by a 14 to 15 year old boy. "Hello madam ..Please sit down, uncle is busy inside - he'll be back in a minute ". I smiled at him and sat in the comfortable leather chair and relaxed and was skimming through one of the many magazines for women, particularly the one's concerning women fashion. I was thinking to myself, ' very thoughtful of the owner of the...'-- my thought-train was disturbed by a "Good afternoon Madam.". I looked up to see a nicely dressed gentleman with a pleasant smile. I nodded and got up. He said " I am Raj. What can we do for you?". I told him "I need to stitch a blouse - in some modern style. I need to wear it for a special occasion" . He looked at me appraisingly from head to toe and remarked, " we can transform you from an angel that you are right now, to a goddess !". I laughed at the comment. He said, 'I haven't seen you here before madam...". I said 'My friend aruna directed me here' . He said.. 'Oh Mrs. Aruna, she is one of our special customers. I am glad '. and 'winked' at me meaningfully. 'Okay, what style do you want the blouse to be?'. I looked at him blankly. He nodded assuringly and walked to his desk, brought back a book with a variety of blouse models and told me to take my time.� I will be around. give me a shout when you have made your choice' and walked away. I was flipping through the pages of the book, clearly overwhelmed by the number of varieties available. He sited my problem after a while, came back to me and said 'may be I could help'. I really needed some help. so I nodded. He took the book from me, shuffled some pages and stopped at one and showed me a back open model tied with laces. 'This is the best model around in town as of today if you are willing to wear this type , it'll accentuate your beauty'. He suddenly stopped. ' I suppose you are married madam.. and I hope its okay with your husband', he trailed off his sentence coated with concern. Still mesmerized by the model, I was replying absently 'It's the idea of my husband that I need to look my best on one of his special occasions'. That was enough encouragement for him and he said, ' Leave the worrying to us and as I said , we will transform you'. He took the bag with new blouse from me with all the right without asking me and started inspecting the blouse piece and started at my boobs for a few seconds and remarked - 'this one would be wonderful on you madam.. please come in . we shall take the measurements'. I stood up and noticed that he was taking a peek my navel through the pallu during that fraction of a second. Despite being shy and all that I normally wear my saree low-hip. so he must have had a good 'preview' and he was possibly dreaming about what was about to come. He got up quickly and led me to his 'back-office'. There was some mild classical music playing in the background and the atmosphere was nice. As I was entering I told him about my total inexperience about stitching blouses outside and me doing it by myself till now. 'Oh very good . Relax madam. you are at the right place' he said. He called his cousin, the little boy too for help and took the inch tape and came to me. I was surprised at first and asked him quite innocently,� Don�t you have women working in your place to take measurements??' for which he laughed and said ' Oh no, we have two, but unfortunately they are off at the moment' and he continued with the same sugar coated voice , ' but don't worry madam. This is absolutely normal these days. men are taking measurements everywhere.' . I felt a bit stupid for asking that question and quickly nodded and tried a smile. 'Okay , so shall we start?' . with that he came close to me and put the tape around my neck and secured it & took my neck measurement and mumbled some numbers which Ganesh (his cousin) scribbled down in his pad. then , he said 'madam , now we shall lower your pallu a bit..' and without waiting for my permission , gently took my pallu from my shoulder and dropped it down !! - still looking straight to my face. I was partly shocked and almost paralyzed for a few seconds. My first thoughts were , damn, why didn't I pin-up the pallu the way I usually do? . I recovered, and was trying to reach for my pallu and was about to bend down. He stopped me with his hands very gently on my shoulder and said - 'relax madam .. please , how can we take measurements without lowering your pallu ? ' He was smiling at me with full confidence and I was defeated by his thorough professionalism. I was thinking , 'after all , he is doing his job' and agreed. (perhaps this was a mistake). I noticed ganesh's eyeballs were almost popping out looking at my boobs and exposed navel. I was thoroughly flushed and shifted a bit. Noticing my discomfort, Raj sent Ganesh to bring some water.. I relaxed a bit. |