Where there is a will there is a way.

In past three weeks of me visiting the sewing centre I haven’t seen her in centre. She sat on the first bench. She was quietly sitting and doing work with utmost sincerity. When approached she introduced herself as Anjana. She told that she is 40 years old and has lived all her in Jammu and recently came to Delhi to be with her husband and get a proper medical treatment for her problem. When asked about her health issue she didn’t say much. Her body language was enough to conclude that she doesn’t feel comfortable in talking about her problem. When asked about her life back home she said she was married at the age of 26 to a man 5 years elder to her. After marriage she went to her husbands family house where she lived with her in-laws and four unmarried sister in laws. She finished her graduation before getting married and aspired to study further but due to her husband’s responsibility towards his sisters, he couldn’t support her further education. When she was talking about major events of her life she seemed very calm and showed no signs of regrets of any kind. She further added, in order to earn a better income her husband took up a Government job and gets transferred very often; she never got to live with him for a long period of time. This is the first time she has been living with her husband. When the question of how she found Maitri’s sewing centre came up, she smiled and replied that she didn’t like living in Delhi and had a lot of free time and to utilize the free time she was looking for some classes. And she came across Maitri’s sewing centre in sector-7 R K Puram and enrolled for a diploma. She added that she completed her diploma with the highest rank in the batch. No wonder she is a good and sincere student, her dedication towards her work was the most noticeable thing about her. She still comes to the centre to learn advance designing and she also uses the centre sewing machines to complete her orders. Anjana is proudly utilizing her diploma degree by taking stitching orders for the ladies in her neighborhood. She mentioned that on an average she earns rupees 2,000 to 2,500 from these orders. Her husband and in-laws doesn’t like that she earns from stitching suits and dresses for other ladies but it is her hobby that’s why they have made peace with it, and let her work. She plans to continue earning from sewing when she goes back to Jammu after her treatment.

Myesha Khan
Christ University Bengaluru
Intern @ Maitri