Dressing up the deities

Volunteers from across Chennai come together for this initiative

A rectangular cutting table attached to the wall, a tailoring machine, cupboards and some stitching paraphernalia greet visitors at Jayashree Mukunthan’s house in Mylapore.

On a video call, Jayashree shows her new ‘workspace’ commissioned by her husband to accommodate a volunteering initiative.

For some years now, Jayashree, who runs a play school in the locality, has been stitching dresses and making embellishments for deities in temples. She is helped by relatives and friends to carry out this pro bono work. Volunteers for this initiative are cherry-picked.