It’s New Moon day in the Tamil month of Adi (Adi Amavasya).Locals head towards the sea and the river, performing poojas (prayer offerings) to ancestors and forefathers. On the road outside D. S. Aiyyelu’s store in Chennai’s Seethamma Nagar, a winter melon bares its fangs. Another melon, smashed and disemboweled by a store owner, lies on the road bloody and smeared with vermilion, its seeds scattered a few feet all around. “These have been banned. People slip and fall when they step on them,” the driver says. “But they continue to do it.”
Painted winter melons ward off the evil eye
I’ve never met Aiyyelu but I know that he is a legend in Chennai’s bharatanatyam dance circuit. During the week I’m in South India, The Hindu publishes a story about his contribution to the dance community. In 2005, Aiyyelu was honored with the Sangeet Natak Academy award which he received from Former President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
- Pleating, pressing and tacking the folds of another costume
This is just one of the many awards Aiyyelu has received for costume design during a career spanning over seventy years. The leading dancers in Chennai, including Alarmel Valli whom I had the fortune of meeting, say Aiyyelu must receive greater state and national recognition for his monumental contribution to the aesthetics of the South Indian dance costume fashioned out of the six-yard sari.
When I walk into Aiyyelu’s studio late on Saturday evening, I realize that the old man seated close to the ground on a cane chair at the far end of the store doesn’t even remotely fit the image I have formed in my mind of this stalwart. He has the absent air of someone who has too much to do and too little time. Every couple of minutes, his jaw rocks back and forth with the weight of his thoughts.
D. S. Aiyyelu, master tailor of the South Indian dance costume
“Are you Aiyyelu?” I ask, in a soft voice. “I am,” he whispers, squinting at me for a second before his fingers needle him back into tacking the gold-colored fabric in his hands. Head bent over the folds of cloth, Aiyyelu continues to fold and pleat. I could be a fly on his measuring tape. Minutes later he pulls out a needle pinned into his white shirt on the upper left shoulder and threads it just like that, in the blink of his naked eye. The dancers are in awe of his insight. I’m in awe of his vision.
“God had been good to me,” he says when I compliment him on his acute vision at his age. Aiyyelu smiles. He thinks about his age. “82,” he says. But his assistant, Ravikumar laughs. “What about the rest?” Ravikumar says, turning to me. “Sir is at least 84.” Aiyyelu began his career at the age of twelve, joining Gemini Studios in 1944 where he worked under costumer Ambedkar. His first customer was Vyjayanthimala Bali.
It's all about fretting over fit and not over a fitting recognition
In the two hours I spend in that studio, I don’t hear Aiyyelu utter more than three words. Customers troop in, disappear into the fitting room and appear before him in their costumes. Aiyyelu, the master designer looks up, grunts in monosyllables to these dancers, and slips back into the silk all over again.
A great addition to your Saritorial- a doyen who has draped the likes of Vyjayanthimala,Kamala and Padmini – who were all the epitome of beauty of Indian women in a saree- the likes of whom we do not find today !
Hello Kalpana
What a wonderful post about Aiyyelu! Looks like your saritorial tour was a memorable journey. Its increasingly amazing to see the dedication in producing highest quality of work by a few individuals – these people who don’t speak very much and are not necessarily famous. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Best,
Suma.
India is what it is because of the dedication, skills, and work ethics of people like Sri. Aiyyelu. Thanks for bringing out the various aspects of Indian life and snippets from the contributions of people like Aiyyelu, Jayanthi amma, and Errol Nelson Pires. Each of them touch the lives and contribute to the well being of several ordinary people. Your postings are a delight to read and I am getting addicted to visiting and revisiting this blog for more.
Really appreciate your comments. I was amazed at the selflessness in the case of some of these people. They love what they do and nothing else matters. Case in point, Sri Aiyyelu. Dancers and others in the art world are pushing for a Kalaimamani or a Padma award but he really couldn’t care a whit for any of that. It was so hard to pull any words out of his mouth.