CHENNAI: Sometimes they walk 15 km a day in the hot sun, pushing their mobile units and earning a pittance. But they are godsend for homemakers in a hurry, as these tailors help them save money and worry less.

If you walk along Memorial Hall behind Central Railway Station after dusk, sometimes you might see rows of sewing machines. The owners of these mobile units spend the night on the pavement and work from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Chinnadurai is a self-taught tailor who hails from Vallanadu in Tirunelveli district.

“I learnt to use the machine from my uncle. When he became too old to continue to work, I took over,” Mr. Chinnadurai says of his foray into the profession. He mends torn clothes and alters garments according to specifications. “Now I make Rs.100 a day. On a good day, I make Rs.150.” He walks through the streets in Vyasarpadi, Pulianthope and Perambur.

Mobile tailors like him use their earnings to visit their family. Last weekend, several of the tailors had left for their hometowns. But Mr. Chinnadurai did not make the trip.

He separated from his wife because she insisted that he stay at home and get a job. “I cannot work for someone as my freedom would be curtailed. In this profession, I may work for 10 days and if I become tired, I rest.”

He admits that if he worked regularly, he could make as much as Rs.5,000 a month. Investment in the business is low.

The only cost incurred is repair of the machine and purchase of needles and threads, which may run to Rs.300 at a time.

Middle-aged T. Vaidyanathan manages to make a steady income.

“I was the first one to introduce the concept in T. Nagar in 1983. I was pushing my unit down the street and a policeman tried to push me away. Just then, Chief Minister MGR passed by. He stopped the car and told the policeman to let me be.”

Mr. Vaidhyanathan, who has studied up to Class IV, learnt the trade at a tailoring shop in Villupuram as a boy. “I would get beaten up by my master if I made a mistake.” When he moved to Masilamani Street off Thanikachalam Road in T. Nagar, he had not bargained for the TASMAC wine shop and bar and the public urinal. “Customers stopped coming to my shop. Then I moved my unit and now my customers are coming back,” he says.

Some residents are considerate and allow mobile tailors to use the space outside their house. “My trade is not like that of the mobile eateries. I don’t litter the place. So people don’t mind me,” Mr. Vaidyanathan says. He takes the train from Oorapakkam and sets up shop at 10 a.m. in T. Nagar and works until 6.30 p.m.

Unlike Chinnadurai and his ilk, Vaidyanathan has used his skill effectively. He not only mends torn clothes but also takes up stitching garments.

Ask him what he earns and he clams up. “If I don’t come to work, I don’t make any money on that day, right?” he counters. “My daughter is doing her third year in biotechnology at Dhanapal Engineering College. I was able to educate her by taking a bank loan.”

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