THREADING A NEEDLE: A WORTHY PURSUIT

Tomes have been written around the topic ‘ageing gracefully’. As a writer, I too, must have written something of the sort except that there is one particular thing that draws the wind out of your lofty sail when it comes to ageing. Threading a Needle. The exasperation attached to the task puts to rest the yet lingering doubts about one’s ageing self. Author Caitlin Thomas said,

‘Between threading a needle and raving insanity is the smallest eye in creation.’

At school, we had one period per week earmarked for the SUPW class where we were taught to thread the needle and do needlework. Intricate embroidery patterns were created on kerchiefs, cushion covers, table mats and napkins with the help of cross-stitch, shadow work, chain stitch and many more. Hem stitch used to be the favourite one with our teachers who wanted all of us to learn to mend our hems, a skill that has often come handy over the years.

Times have changed. As a mother of two daughters, I tried to teach them the importance of knowing a stitch or two for as they say, ‘A stitch in time, saves nine’. Not only the present generation loathes any such work but also treat it as the most unnecessary skill set. They defer wearing a particular skirt or dress whose hem or seam has come apart until they bring it home to me or to a tailor for mending.

Value system has undergone a drastic transition. Schools have since long suspended the SUPW class which has now been replaced by Art and Craft. Things are no longer sewn but glued together. Paper, scissors, accessories for decoration, ribbons, etc. are put together to make items that can be put to display, things which are soon put inside a box never to be brought out again.

I remember times when we made dining table mats and napkins by pulling out threads of the casement cloth and later embroidered patterns in contrasting cotton or silk threads, our proud mothers would bring them out on special occasions and flaunt them in front of the guests who admired the neatness and the intricacy of the work with equal gusto. Colossal embroidered pieces, wood and glass framed, adorned the walls and mantle pieces of the drawing rooms and living rooms. Alas! no longer.

Vacations were special occasions. No, those were not the times when vacations meant late nights and late mornings or travelling abroad. Vacations were the time to pursue extra-curricular activities or indulge in hobbies and creative pastimes. Magazines with embroidery or knitting patterns, specially preserved for the occasion, were pulled out of the cabinets and dressers and the designs were diligently imitated on cloth or in wool.

In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see men taking to knitting as a hobby or as a creative pursuit in a number of Korean dramas. Boyfriends knitting scarves or mufflers for their girlfriends was the coolest thing I witnessed. Friends suggesting each other to take up knitting either as a distraction from mentally exhausting activities or as a means to concentrate, left me spellbound.

I personally feel that learning the art of stitching, embroidering or knitting is not only a constructive exercise but also a healthy alternative to wean your child off the gadgets.