Back in the late 1970s Mom had these few places that she would go to shop - groceries with Rajeshwari Stores in Srinivasa Nagar, cloth from Binny at Ameerpet, tailoring at Sreekala Tailors Ameerpet, chicken at Rajdhani Chicken Centre Ameerpet, mutton at the TB Hospital fellow, ration at Vengal Rao Nagar. The vegetable vendor would come home. Wonder where fruits came from?
Anyway Sreekala Tailors was our go to for men's clothes until we graduated to buying ready made clothes. Until then the routine was to buy cloth at Binny with Mom overseeing the process and then go to Sreekala Tailors and get yourself measured out to get them stitched. Even when I played Ranji Trophy my clothes were stitched unlike all the others who wore tshirts and track pants which were far more comfortable because they would stretch easily and more stylish. However I shone like a knight in white because Binny would give me this bright shiny white that dazzled in the sun. I dazzled in my clothes if not on the field.
I pulled off the Ranji Trophy days like that with shiny whites and shoes that were constantly patched up by the friendly LIDCAP cobbler at ESI. My other service providers were the barber at Neel Kamal (now no more). The Binny chaps are still around though - with a huge shop in SR Nagar where we bought Anjali's uniform the other day.
The other day I went to Ameerpet for some purchases with the carpenter and found that Sreekala was still around! Amazing! I quietly took a picture and came away. Did not have the guts to confront the tailor who had an imposing presence.
Maybe sometime I will go and get a shirt stitched!
But suffice to say that Mom built enduring relationships with all of them. Brand loyalty at its best. They would give her credit, lots of respect, and most remember her till date fondly. She was great at that - building lasting, deep relationships.
Sreekala Men's Tailors was one of them.
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