Gurugram-based retired school teacher is mask fairy for underprivileged kids

Retired teacher Vimal Narula has been stitching and distributing masks ever since lockdown, and has helped about 1,000 people till date.

Bringing happiness and encouraging the need for hygiene among the underprivileged children and construction workers, during Covid-19 pandemic, is Gurugram-based mask fairy Vimal Narula, a retired government school teacher.

Some of the masks made by retired teacher Vimal Narula from Gurugram, for underprivileged kids, labourers and construction workers, amid Covid-19 pandemic.

Cotton, hand-painted, embroidered, you name it and she has made a mask out of it. “As soon as the lockdown started, it dawned over me that where would the security guys, domestic helps, and their kids get masks from? Unko maks mile honge but those need to be washed as well, so what if they don’t have a spare one... Pehle maine unke liye cotton masks banane shuru kiye. Because I do stitching, I would often have decoration material such as beads, ghungroo, etc so I started making some for my friends and family, too,” says the 75-year-old.

Vimal Narula has made and distributed over 1,000 masks for free till date.

Since April, Narula has made and distributed over 1,000 masks without charging a dime. “I start around 10am everyday, and spend all day making these. I add the elastic to the ready ones around 5pm everyday. This has been my routine for all these months... I look for cloth in the house that is unused, and start making fancy and party masks, too. One day, my machine broke down and I was feeling so depressed. The next day, it started working on it’s own. I guess my prayers were heard; that was the happiest moment for me,” she says with a smile, recalling the other time when she used to teach children in a school for the underprivileged.

“I love to help others. Mera mann hai ki sabko masks pahuche. I’m so grateful that I can make these masks kyunki mere mann mein ichha hai ki main jitna kar sakoon dusron ke liye utna kam hai. People ask me at times to charge money for these, but I’m so happy and satisfied with my work that I don’t want to take money in return. In fact some people even enquired about these masks on Facebook, and I tell them ‘Aap aao, main gate pe bhijwa dungi for you to collect’. Hope coronavirus vanishes from our lives soon, but till the time it’s there, I’ll be more than willing to provide people with this necessity, free of cost,” she adds.

And not just masks, she has also been sewing sweaters! Sharing how fond she is of stitching and knitting, Narula says, “I can’t sit idle! When my kids were young, I would often make sweaters for them. I always made original designs and never copied form any magazine. Ab mere bachche bade ho gaye hain, and since it’s my hobby to knit sweaters, I continue to do so for those kids who can’t afford them in the winter season.”

Author tweets @Nainaarora8

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