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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 April 2000 Issue No. 477 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 April 2000 Issue No. 477
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Suits you, sir
At most, there are nine or 10 winter suits hanging in my wardrobe. This is a large number, I hasten to add; many winters have gone by when I have not worn any of them more than once, and I am not the kind of person who gets excited about a new suit.
My tailor was a man I had heard of from my friend Tharwat Abaza, who came to me in a huff one day and pronounced these enigmatic words: "Only ten pounds stand between you and Délia." I replied, somewhat perplexed: "And who or what would Délia happen to be?"
Tharwat Abaza smiled. "Only the best tailor in Egypt," he informed me. "And he charges a mere ten pounds more than you are currently paying your tailor to make the finest suit you will ever have worn. Why not get him to make you a decent suit? Make no mistake, though: he is a very important man, and will not make a suit for just anyone, but you don't need to worry, because I'll put in a good word for you."
After that, Délia became a dear friend. A few years ago, he had to undergo surgery. I went to visit him in hospital. As I was wishing him a speedy recovery, he put his head on my shoulder and began to weep. That was the last time I saw him; he died soon afterward, and I stopped having suits made.
As for ties, I stopped wearing those a long time ago. At first, I made no special effort to avoid wearing a tie, and simply wore a roll-neck pullover in order to skirt the whole issue -- no pun intended, of course! But even when I wasn't wearing garments that hid the neck area, I soon found I could not go back to wearing a tie. It was too constricting -- I just couldn't bear it, nor see the reason why it was important. Besides, I could never get the hang of tying that particular noose...
Some of my friends, especially Youssef El-Siba'i -- may he rest in peace -- would come to visit me and bring me ties when they returned from a trip abroad. But after a few such attempts, I asked them to forgive me for not wearing their gifts, and they soon gave up.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
