Nasir Aziz
The story of Masrat Jan, 33, is more endearing as her journey was replete with obstacles which she overcame successfully. Her dogged determination to succeed propelled her to march ahead and inspire everyone she met on her way.
The founder of ‘Kashmir Boutique Cutting and Tailoring’ centre, Masrat broke many stereotype after her husband ended a year-old marriage and divorced her, with a baby in her lap in 2015.
Though Masrat remarried after two years, but during the divorce period she was broken both financially and emotionally. She could have easily given up in such testing times. On the contrary, she chose to be a fighter and stood up against all odds. Establishing a boutique-cum-training centre near Jamia Masjid Pattan in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, she quickly gained recognition in the area. Today, her venture is said to be a hub of getting the most stylish suits in the region, while also imparting training to young and unemployed girls to make them self-reliant.
Masrat says, “It was a tough time for me when I got divorce, but it also provided me an opportunity to deal with hardships. So I took it as a challenge and decided to fight with the situation.”
In fact, it was her passion to learn tailoring and to run a boutique. “Since my childhood I was fond of learning tailoring, I learnt basics of it from my brother-in-law and then went to an institution where I learnt all about cutting and tailoring,” says Masrat.
What made her boutique novel in itself was the idea to compound it into a boutique-cum-training centre. Enduring a lot of sufferings herself, she developed a keen interest to do something to empower other women like her. For the purpose, Masrat’s father helped her financially, yet the initiative to set up a training centre was solely her own.
“Thanks to Allah, I am earning much more than what I was expecting. I am able to fulfil all my needs and those of my children. Besides, I am satisfied that this institution became a platform for earning livelihood for many,” she says with a twinkle in her eye. “I request all the women who are caught in such situations to not lose courage and take it as a challenge instead,” she adds.
Till now six hundred women have been trained while twenty-seven are enrolled in the institution at present. The institution currently offers two courses – one year course and six-month. In six-month course, trainees gain expertise in ladies wear while the one-year programme has been designed to impart complete training in all kinds of ladies, gents and kids wear.
