TRADITION OF SARTORIAL EXCELLENCE

TRADITION OF SARTORIAL EXCELLENCE

ANUJ KUMAR

The Mehedi brothers of Aligarh make unique sherwanis that are worn by Presidents and Prime Ministers.

THERE is one register where both Satpal Maharaj and Mufti Mohammed Sayeed figure on the same page. This is the measurement register of the Mehedi brothers, the tailor duo to whom most politicians virtually line up to get their sherwanis stitched. Manmohan Singh, V.P. Singh, Arjun Singh, Babu Parmanand, Syed Sibte Razi, E. Ahmed and Azam Khan... the list is quite big. The brothers are also proud of the family's association with the first citizens of the country. "From Zakir Hussain to Shankar Dayal Sharma, we have stitched sherwanis for all the Presidents of India," claims Anwar Mehedi, taking out the certificates which different Presidents have bestowed upon them. "After Shankar Dayal Sharma, those who took the highest office hardly wore sherwanis, but there is no dearth of work. Chief Ministers, Governors, ministers, all keep us busy," adds Anwar.

No, the Mehedis do not work out of a designer hub in a metro. Their humble little shop is located in Aligarh, a small town in western Uttar Pradesh, known for its "four Ms", as Akhtar Mehedi, the younger of the two brothers puts it. "Aligarh has been famous for the Muslim University, mosquitoes, mathris and Mehedi Hasan, our father, who set up the shop in 1947."

How it all began

Chronicling their rise, Akhtar says when Zakir Hussain was the Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University before moving to Delhi, "Our father's work caught his fancy. When he became the Vice President he said only Mehedi Hasan would stitch his sherwani. In the 17 years of his political life, father stitched 175 sherwanis for him. The word spread and soon it became a tradition. The sherwanis of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, V.V. Giri and Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy were stitched at our shop in Aligarh," says Akhtar with a tinge of pride in his eyes. As for Manmohan Singh, Akhtar says they stitched his sherwani when he came to Aligarh for the university convocation before becoming the Prime Minister. "He doesn't wear sherwanis unlike V.P. Singh who has always been fond of sherwanis."

The Mehedis have clients residing in other countries as well. It is interesting to see their measurement register, where pages are devoted to countries followed by Indian cities and the political clients. For instance, the U.K. page opens with the measurements of Pervaiz Alam and Satish Jacob. "Once we have the measurement, the client doesn't need to come to us again. Just a phone call will do."

Talking of their unique selling point, Anwar relates, "We make sherwanis not just in accordance to measurements. For us, body structure is the key. Some people have broad shoulders, others have drooping ones. The structure of the back is also taken into account. Then fall is something that makes our sherwani unique." The politician who has troubled him the most, in the sartorial sense, is Satpal Maharaj. "His structure is very complex, but the sherwani looks good on him because it hides his size," smiles Anwar.

Then and now

Once an outfit of the nobles, the sherwani is a dress that looks good on both the fat and the thin. However, these days it has been reduced to an "occasion" wear. "It's true. There was a time when students used to attend classes in sherwani and people didn't mind cycling in sherwanis. These days, however, people don't want to feel restricted so they wear it only on select occasions. But the good thing is that it's no longer a predominantly Muslim outfit. There is demand from people of all communities." In a communally sensitive city, Anwar says 40 per cent of their business comes from non-Muslim families.

Akhtar has his own way of underlining their supremacy. "Once a popular Karachi tailor, in jealousy, tried to outdo us. One of our clients challenged him to make a new sherwani, which would have the same fit like the one stitched by us. He opened the sherwani, to see how we had stitched it. But the poor man failed to put it back into the original shape, forget about stitching the new one. Our sherwanis take the body's shape and still remain airy. We don't call our clients for trial." As for competition from the designers in Delhi, Anwar quips, "They don't make sherwanis. They are just making kurtas with collars!"

An engineering graduate, Anwar says he shifted back to tailoring because there is greater respect in this profession. It seems strange, for Anwar had even taught at the Aligarh Muslim University Polytechnic for two years. "There are so many engineers but there is no tailor like me. So I should pursue what I can do best."