Category: KIRRT

I started this business of shoe-making in 1955, I was twenty years old then. My father was a farmer. I finished my matric in ‘54, it amounted to a lot in those days. I was offered a job of land revenue officer.

Anandpur used to be known for its traditional Punjabi shoe-making (Juttis), but now you won’t find any craftsman here. Daulat Singh, one such craftsman, was known all over Punjab. All these people have passed away now and their kids went to colleges, taking up new jobs.

I started this work fifty years ago. My parents used to make some random stuff at home and sell it, but the business wasn’t enough to keep things running smoothly. They put me in a school, while studying there I got interested in watchmaking.

The shop is as old as the city, that’s more than 200 years. When Maharaja Nabha settled this city, he needed the coppersmiths and asked us to move here from a nearby village, Rajgarh Wajeedpur. This street was known as ‘Maharaja Thathera Bazaar’.

I (Sheela) was born in Jind, Haryana. My parents moved to Chandigarh forty years ago when I was just two or three. They were farm labourers in Jind but in Chandigarh they learned how to stitch quilts. I learnt it from them and started working along.

We used to walk to a village, sit in front of a house and start playing the Been (wind instrument). Children and grown-ups would gather and ask us to perform with the snake. When we were done we would ask for a donation which most of the people made.

My father worked for the Delhi Transport Authority. My mother didn’t have a brother, her parents needed a boy to take care of the household. So, they took me in. I was brought to Nangal when I was three.

I’m at this shop from 50 years. My father used to sit here before me. I’ve sold tea all my life and it has been worth it. My children are married and I’ve bought them their own shops, not too big but big enough to support the daily errands.

My parents used to work as a farm laborer until I was sixteen. They worked their way out and started cultivating land on contract. Every year we rent 2-3 acres, plant the seasonal crops along with the fodder for cattle.

My father got a job in Kenya in the 80s. He moved to Nairobi and we joined him when I was 10 or 11, I did my high school there. After working in Nairobi for a few years we moved back to India and tried settling there, but failed.