The Trouser Story

Last year my uncle and aunt from Mumbai paid a visit to Bangalore to meet us while they were on their way to Kerala. My uncle and aunt presented me with a cloth for trouser and shirt. For the past one year the cloth was lying at my sister's house as I was not at all interested in the long process of carrying the cloth to the tailor shop, giving measurement and then again wait for days to get it stitched.

Last week, my wife insisted me to get the cloth stitched so that I can wear it on Onam. So I collected the cloth from my sister house.As it has been a long long time since I have given any cloth for stitching, I inquired my old roommate about the best available tailor shop near our area. He recommended a tailor shop next to our street.

The next day afternoon, I went to the tailor shop. The shop was small and resembled the typical indian street tailor shop with four to five tailoring machines, the usual smell of cloth cuttings, a few posters of 'Vimal', 'Raymond' etc, a glass shelf with stitched trousers and shirts. The tailor greeted me with a smile and collected the cloth from me.....took measurements.....made a receipt....gave a delivery date.

I went to collect my dress on the delivery date mentioned by tailor. He asked to me to come the next day as a little more work is left. I went to him the next day and again he asked for a little more time as the work on it was yet to finish. I was not at all in a desperate need of the dress, so I came back.

To avoid hearing the same excuse I went to collect after 3 days, tailor saab was having his lunch..I waited patiently for him to finish his lunch, he took the receipt from me and went inside to bring my dress. He was searched in the shelf, under the heap of clothes lying under his table. He could get my shirt but he was searching for the trousers. After 15 minutes of search, he came to face me with a deep expression and hesitatingly informed me that my trouser has been by mistake got excahnged with somebody else. I rememberd the dialogue from an old doordarshan serial "Mere saath hi aisa kyon hota hai". He asked to check back the next day so that he can find that person and collect my trouser from him.

The next day...my fifth visit to the shop...as soon as I stopped my bike in front of his shop, he came outside and said that he could not find that person. He then suggested that we can go to a cloth showroom where I can select a new cloth piece and he will pay for the cloth and get it stitched. So both of us went to a cloth shop and the tailor paid for the new cloth and got it stitched for me.

So this Onam I have been gifted a trouser from a tailor :-)). It might be the first time happening for three people : First is Mr. Somebody who is wearing the trouser stitched according to my measurement. Second is the tailor who had to purchase a cloth for me. Third is myself, the one who is wearing a trouser gifted by the tailor. Life is realllllly unpredictable.