Jalandhar, July 5
Hard work and honesty can bring glory to any profession. The same has came true in the case of Mohammad Noor-ul-Islam Idrisi “Sabri”. He has not only brought glory to his profession of tailoring but to the city as well, by being the tailor of two Presidents, including Mr K. R. Narayanan, numerous Central Ministers and foreign dignitaries.
Sabri is always smiling and his bearing impeccable, which may be the reason for his proximity with bigwigs.
No one who passes through Jyoti Chowk area here can imagine that a humble tailor working with a retail cloth outlet is the choice of the Indian President, Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and his son filmstar Saif Ali Khan. But once you engage him in a chit-chat, you learn that he is not only a tailor of VVIPs but also a poet. He has won President’s Medal as a scout.
Talking to The Tribune, Sabri, who originally hails from Saharanpur, said he came in contact with the late Giani Zail Singh at Saharanpur in 1978 during a “mushaira”. He was one of the organisers. “What I think impressed Gianiji was my answer to his query as to what was my “shagal” (occupation). I replied: “khaiyaat” (tailoring). He gave me a bear hug and called me to tailor his “sherwani” when he became Union Home Minister. This “silsila” continued even when he was President.
“The clothes worn by Gianiji on his funeral pyre were sewn by me,” said Sabri turning emotional. “Once I stitched as many as 10 “sherwanis” when Gianiji had to visit Saudi Arabia in his capacity as Head of State.” He said it was through Gianiji that he came into contact with President Narayanan.
Sabri claims to have been the tailor of the then Union Home Minister, S.B. Chavan, and UP Governor Osman Aarif Khan, and the then Governor of Baghdad (Iraq), Anwar Umar Sajjad.
Sabri said Gianiji was a sober man, who had a passion for Urdu. He
described President Narayanan and Nawab Pataudi as connoisseurs of art.
In return for his services, the President had nominated him as member of the Railway Users Committee, he said. “Anwar Umar Sayyad, the late Governor of Baghdad, was so happy with my dresses that he hugged me and invited me to Iraq and gave me a ‘silver card’ as a token of love which entitled me to all government facilities in Iraq,” said Sabri, attributing his success to his “ustaad”, Haazi Zahoor Ahmed of Dehra Dun and to “Allah” and his “rehmat”.
The 58-year-old tailor said his dream was to teach the finer nuances of his profession to his 20-odd assistants. “I don’t want to go to my grave with whatever I have learnt from others, he added philosophically.
