Seated comfortably in a chair in the living room, Shravan Kumar is working the loom horizontally. His eyes had been fixed on the loom, and only after some persuasion from his mom does he look into the camera to participate in the video call with this journalist. At fixed hours every day – 11 a.m to 11.45 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. – Shravan is the weaver, and he does not usually let anything distract him from the work at hand.

The pandemic has had a silver lining for Shravan’s parents — Ramakrishnan VV and Rama K — as it has led their 27-year-old son with Down’s Syndrome to make stoles, and take sure-footed steps towards a degree of independence.

It began in the early months of the lockdown, when Shravan’s regular routine was disrupted: the neighbourhood gym had folded up; the center for Down Syndrome Federation of India in Mylapore where he used to go for vocational classes had closed; and there were no colouring classes either. His parents invested in a laptop for him and his mother started teaching him data entry. Once they knew typing would not keep him motivated for long, the family brought home a portable weaving machine. The move was inspired by the work done by another youngster, late Srinivas, with similar disability.

“We bought the machine in August 2020 but before that we had to learn how to tie a yarn,” says Rama, who quit her corporate job during the pandemic. Through video calls they learnt the art from Srinivas. Their efforts paid off, as Shravan got interested in it.

“It is repetitive action. I tie the yarn for a length of six feet and the horizontal line action is done by Shravan,” says Rama, adding that it take four days to make a stole. Since they bought the machine, Shravan has woven 250 stoles, and all of them have found buyers.

Their first contact was their family. “I did a promotion on our family’s WhatsApp group calling him the new weaver in town,” Rama laughs.

Rama’s friends from Mumbai and Chennai were the early customers who helped spread the word about Shravan’s stoles. A few of their big orders came from a neurosurgeon who asked for 12 stoles and another well-wisher wanted 35 during Navarathri to be given away as return gifts.

Playback singer KS Chithra also picked up a few stoles through a friend.

“She sent a video message motivating him to do more,” says Rama, a resident of Shenoy Nagar.

Rama says weaving has been a form of meditation for her son and she also sees that the hobby has empowered him to feel that he is a businessman. “To friends and cousins who are engineers, he says he is the weaving engineer working from home,” says Rama, adding that he motivates his sister too. Every month, they get six to seven orders.

“There is no profit, no loss and we are not looking at this as a business. This hobby has helped keep Shravan engaged productively, and that is what matters the most to us,” says Rama, adding that the colour patterns in the stole cheer him up.

Shravan’s parents crossed various hurdles to bring him up in a mainstream environment. He went to a regular school till certain challenges forced him to shift to a special school. He completed his class X through the National Institute of Open Schooling in English and data entry with the help of a scribe.

“We have been treating him for anxiety for some years but weaving, yoga and physical activity have helped him,” says Rama who regards Dr Surekha Ramachandran from the Down Syndrome Federation of India as their mentor. “She has always encouraged me to treat Shravan like a normal child.”

Rama says these children with the extra chromosome need to be motivated to try out new things. “At the gym, the centre had displayed a poster with Shravan’s photo as brand ambassador as he was diligent in hitting the gym,” says Rama.

Her advice to working parents with special children,: “Do not leave your career to take care of a special child as they would become dependent on you.”

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Printable version | Jun 17, 2022 10:05:29 am | https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/meet-the-weaving-engineer-working-from-home/article65236946.ece