The Corner 'Rafugar' Needs a Stitch in Time

A preference for fast fashion is putting tailors and darners out of business, killing a centuries-old form of fabric recycling

- Pooja Singh

It's like losing a family member," says Manmeet Kaur Bindra, her five friends nodding in agreement. The neighbours in Delhi's Kalkaji are discussing the locality's darner or rafugar, Wasim Khan, who died, aged 85, on 17 March.

The six women, in the 45-55 age group, have many stories about masterji-a tall, lanky bearded man who sat hunched on a wooden stool, under a peepul tree, from llam-6pm, darning clothes. Bindra says her mother-in-law introduced her to Khan when she moved to this part of Delhi as a 25-year-old bride two decades ago.

She recalls the time he refused to darn a hole in her chiffon duppatta at the last minute, which meant she had to change her whole outfit before a family wedding He was a jaadugar (magician), the six insist. "You couldn't even make out where the tear was (after he'd fixed it)," says Bindra, a private school teacher.

"Do you know how difficult it is to find a good rafugar," Arti Joshi, a marketing head at an advertising firm, asks. "They are getting rarer." So rare that even after weeks of searching, the six women haven't managed to find a reliable rafugar. "Masterji's son knows the work but refuses to do it (he chose to be a rickshaw puller)," says Bindra. "My children say just one thing to me, 'throw the clothes"." Their stories illustrate the change rafugiri, or the art of mending clothes, is going through across India. The history of rafugiri is probably as old as the creation of the first piece of cloth; all garments need repair at some point. Yet, this craft isn't recognised as a craft.