Meet ‘the master’: Tailor overloaded with orders for politicians’ kurta-pyjamas for Lok Sabha polls 2024

Giridhari Barik, a 69-year-old tailor from Odisha, has been making custom clothes for politicians and famous people for 40 years. Big names like Biju Patnaik, JB Patnaik, Giridhar Gamang, and Hemananda Biswal, trust him to make their clothes. He’s so popular that he’s getting lots of orders for making kurta-pyjamas for politicians before the 2024 LS polls.

“Biju Babu was a sharp dresser,” said Barik while describing his first big client Biju Patnaik

Biju Babu visited his shop in 1983 and asked him to make a kurta.

“Biju Babu on Oct 2, 1983 came to inaugurate Khadi Niketan store in Ashok Nagar area of Bhubaneswar, where I had my tailoring shop. Kailash Sahu, owner of the store, suggested that I stitch Biju Babu a kurta. Biju Babu reluctantly said all his kurtas are stitched in Delhi but added that if he liked the fit, he would allow me to stitch his kurtas for as long as he lived. It was a challenge as he was too tall with long hands and broad shoulders. But since then I stitched all his kurtas,” said Barik as quoted by TOI.

“You may think that I am bragging but my first client was none other than Biju Patnaik,” Barik added.

Barik has measurements for over 150 politicians in Odisha, including CM Naveen Patnaik. He said that the politicians’ fashion tastes have changed over the years. Most prefer cotton, but now many like linen. While kurtas are the same, some want short sleeves, some want long, and they also want different neck designs.”The style of politicians has changed over the years. Cotton is the first choice of most, but these days linen is a hot favourite. Kurtas are the same but some want short sleeves, others extra-long, and different designs of necks,” said the Class 5 passout.Besides politicians, Barik has also made clothes for famous people like Arjun Munda, Pandit Ravi Shankar, and Kuldeep Nayyar. He’s proud of his work and happy to serve his customers.

Inputs from TOI