3 min readChandigarhAug 30, 2012 12:41 AM IST
First published on: Aug 30, 2012 at 12:41 AM IST
There is one tailoring shop at almost every boys’ hostel on the PU campus and they get maximum business in this season
Come election time and half the Panjab University campus can be seen dressed in clean white kurta pyjamas,the traditional attire of ‘True Indian leaders’. Though it is most often coupled with a Nehru cap,black shoes or juti is the combination in vogue,in this part of the country.
Not surprisingly,for the tailors in PU,the period of student elections is their favourite time of the year. There is one tailor shop in almost every boys’ hostel on campus and according to most of them they get maximum business during this time. Shiv,the tailor at boys’ hostel 5 says,“I have been getting about four orders of kurta-pyjama sets every day since the past one week. I don’t get so many orders even during festivals like Holi or Diwali”.
The family of Shingara Singh,owner of M S Tailors in boys hostel 6,has been owning the shop in the campus since 1962. He claims that his father was the first tailor here and he started working with his father since he was about ten years old. M S Tailors is also a favourite amongst student leaders and has been receiving an average of seven orders of kurta-pyjama sets,since the past one month.
The average price of one kurta-pyjama set is about rupees 300-400. So,in the month of August,the tailors here receive orders worth almost 70,000 rupees. Though the demand for just the kurta or pyjama is usually less,even that costs about 200 rupees. The earnings from these also is about 7000 rupees.
According to Shingara Singh,students nowadays prefer pyjamas which have hooks and are almost like pants,or ones which have elastic. He says that tying the knots of threads,as are provided in traditional pyjamas,is an inconvenience for students now. “Most of these boys have been living in hostels since a young age. Many even tell me that they don’t know how to tie a knot and end up entangling it. So they prefer buttons,which are easy to put on”.
Students have their own reasons to fancy this election special uniform. Most freshers and younger party members like to wear kurta-pyjama to fit in the group and look like the seniors,boosting their sense of affiliation.
According to ABVP president,Parvesh Chandel,“This attire depicts a sense of purity of intentions and peaceful motives.” SOPU president,Manoj Lubana,on the other hand,says,“It is the traditional garb of our leaders and gives us a sense of leadership spirit.”
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