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The crimson Kolkata sun had just started to drown over the concrete jungle when I received a text from Pritha. Earlier that week she had returned to London to resume her essential work as a doctor, while my work-from-home job allowed me to spend a few extra days with family. If you know my wife, you will know that she is a woman of a million plans and ideas. And admittedly, I am often the reluctant participant. I picked up the phone with a nervous excitement but could never imagine what was about to hit me. A stranger from Kashmir will visit our Kolkata home, she informed. My job was to browse through his portfolio of handmade shawls and other clothes, short select items I like, and video call her to finalise the purchase.
The name Kashmir evokes a myriad of emotions in the heart of the travel-loving, romantic Bengali, but this time I could barely suppress a groan. My Kolkata visits are generally quite frenetic, and I hated being tasked with this kind of responsibility. More so at a time when Covid-19 had everyone on edge.
Soon a clear, crisp morning saw me gingerly waiting for Mohammad Salim to drop by our house with his wares. When we were young, winter used to arrive in Kolkata with door-to-door sales pitches of shawl-sellers from Kashmir. But surely in this day and age there are better ways, I thought to myself. My mother thankfully was more enthused and for the umpteenth time I had to listen to the embarrassing story of how as a toddler, I developed florid tonsillitis on the first day of our family’s maiden Kashmir trip and ruined the holiday.
Salim however did not disappoint, and the next few hours were spent in some enthralling chats about his home, his work and those magical Kashmiri weaves.
Salim hails from Srinagar, where his family runs a winter wear shop close to the banks of the famed Dal Lake. They specialise in shawls, stoles and garments made from Pashmina, a fine wool spun from the hair of the Changthangi goat. These goats can survive the severest winters at altitudes upwards of 14,000 ft due to their warm, downy coat. During summer, they rub themselves on shrubs and rocks to shed their hair, which are then painstakingly collected, cleaned, spun and hand-woven by Pashmina artists to create delightfully light and warm masterpieces.
Like many other handloom and handicraft sellers and artisans in Kashmir, Salim’s family depended on the patronage of visitors who wished to take a little bit of paradise home with them. Since the abrogation of article 370 and repeated imposition of curfews, the number of tourists had reduced drastically, forcing Salim to leave college and venture out of the state to sell their wares. When I asked him about Kolkata, he confessed he knew no-one in the city and was relying on a handful of second-hand contacts to try and build a network of clients and patrons. As we chatted over a cup of steaming Darjeeling tea, it struck me what a double whammy it was for people like him, with Covid-19 making it difficult to travel and meet clients, and the overall economy also going through a slump.
Secretly I thanked the woman I married for always being there for people like Salim. She had never met him and only heard his story when he visited Kolkata for the first-time last winter. She was supposed to buy from him a year ago, but Salim had left Kolkata by the time she arrived. They however stayed in touch and finally I was entrusted the responsibility of keeping her promise.
Salim introduced us to his proverbial treasure trove of fine weaves – shawls, stoles and pherans (a traditional Kashmiri over-garment) made of the most delicate and gorgeous Pashmina with elaborate, fine embroidered designs in hues ranging from stunning reds and blues to the natural pashmina beige. The items are handmade by artists in the local community, many of whom are members of his extended family. In artisan families all members receive training in the craft from a young age and Salim himself is also skilled in the art of designing Pashmina.
A Kani Shawl 
An unstitched kurta (tunic) piece 
A Sozni embroidered shawl 
Original undyed colour of Pashmina wool
Because of the rarity of the wool and the intricacy of the designs, Pashmina is not cheap. The most affordable items are the ones without design. But if you can, go for a Kani shawl, where stunning hand-woven paisley and floral patterns are made using Pashmina fibres in a handloom.
Pashmina shawl decorated with delicate and fine Sozni embroidery is another timeless classic. Since each shawl can take six months or more of literally back-breaking work to finish, these are expensive. But when handled with a little love and care, they will last for generations and are true heirloom pieces.
Steps in creating a Sozni shawl-
- Tufts of wool are prepared
- Spinning of wool on wooden spindles
- Dyeing of wool and silk embroidery thread
- Weaving of the shawl
- Block printing of design on shawl
- Embroidery done to cover and fill printed design
Kashmiri embroidery is mostly done at home and requires patience and diligence. The embroidery itself is meticulous and resembles a tapestry. The most exclusive shawls have such heavy work that one is not able to see the base fabric. These take years to complete and can cost lakhs of rupees (thousands of GBP/USD).
To cater to a wider clientele artisans also make shawls, stoles and scarves with lighter designs which are affordable and gorgeous too.
In order to identify original Sozni from machine-made embroidery, look at the rear of the fabric. In a handmade item the front and rear will almost appear the same with no floating threads visible.
In the video, Salim’s family members are seen working on Sozni embroidery at their family home. You can hear children in the background as they too want to be a part of it! Video courtesy Salim
One such item that struck a chord was a beautiful shawl embroidered by Salim’s cousin who would be using the money from the sale to partially fund her education as a medical student. Both Pritha and I intuitively knew that this would be the right gift for my mother-in-law who was born to a doctor, married to one and is a mother of two.
For our personal use we chose a masterpiece with Sozni embroidery all over. Both of us agree that scarves, stoles and shawls are unisex fashion accessories and Pritha has a video tutorial where she has used our new shawl for demonstration.
My loving wife also rewarded me for my services with a statement peach embroidered stole and my sister Neesha was not ignored either.
Pritha also selected a pheran for herself. I learnt that she has already promised Salim a Kani, which she will buy when we physically visit his store in Srinagar. I guess my tonsils and I will be visiting Kashmir again!
Salim surprised us further with his generosity as he insisted on gifting us a bagful of walnuts from their family orchard back in Srinagar. We eventually parted but not before making plans to visit his beautiful home-state, where he promised to guide us to the most remarkable spots that are not on the popular tourist roadmaps yet. He would pick us up from the airport and we would be guests in his family home. If we do not object to staying with Muslims, he added apologetically.
Salim and his family also sell other varieties of woollens like non-Pashmina wool and machine-made ones which are more affordable. They ship worldwide with delivery charges depending on destination
Art form- Pashmina
Store Location: Soura, Srinagar
Contact- +91 9797193334, +91 7889398235
Language(s) in order of preference- Hindi, English
Oh this is so well written!!! And indeed the yearly adventure of rummaging through the huge bags and lotas of our Kashmiri friends was halted this year owing to Covid…. But the love for Kashmiri art on a shawl, a stole, a scarf , pheran, saree or a dress material has its own alure that is undeniable! I really missed our very own Khurshid Bhai and Altaf Bhai!!! Perhaps next year…🤞🏽
🤞🏼next year for sure …