A craft that is widely known but still invisible to many people is the art of making products from Pashmina – fine Cashmere wool, whose literal translation is ‘Soft Gold’ in Kashmir. History is evident that Pashmina wool is a material cherished by kings, foreigners and common people alike. Its quality can only be identified by its warmth, softness and by the people alone who have the knowledge to distinguise between Pashmina and ordinary wool.
Pashmina wool, unlike generic Cashmere wool, is perfect for making light weight yet warm scarves and shawls. Unfortunately, today, ‘Pashmina’ is being used too liberally and many types of apparel made from synthetic or natural fibre are being sold as Pashmina, creating confusion among people. Only a handful of people are aware about real Pashmina wool. Due to fake labelling, many are confused about whom to trust while purchasing a Pashmina item.
Luckily, there is one person who might be be able to drive away the confusion. Varuna Anand has been working for six years with the craftsmen of Kashmir with an aim to support the age old art of shawl making in Kashmir by bridging the gap between the genuine up-market customer and weaver from the valley under the brand, “The Splendor of Kashmir.” With 25 years of experience as a Textile Designer, soon after she moved to Kashmir, she realised that people outside the state had no idea about the shawls they were wearing.
When asked about the challenges that she had to face in establishing a Pashmina brand, she said, “The biggest challenge initially for me was explaining to people that what you are wearing is not a shawl from Kashmir; this is not the art of shawl making. We don’t know better, we are just wearing what people are bringing to us and saying this is the finest. Go to Kashmir to see what the finest is. So, the biggest challenge was explaining to people that you are not paying me for just the Pashmina; you are paying me for the extent of embroidery done on it and the fact that Pashmina is so fragile and yet doesn’t tear when someone does so much of embroidery. It’s an art.”
Many believe that Pashmina wool is expensive but the fact is that it’s not the wool that’s exorbitantly priced; it’s the degree of detailed work done on the apparels that makes it so costly. A Pashmina shawl and apparel is something that is limited to a certain group of people, generally the business class. It is something that’s luxurious and beyond the reach of salaried people. The price of a Pashmina scarf roughly varies between Rs 7000 and 18000 depending upon the quantum of work done on the apparel. The estimate price of a single piece of beautifully embroidered Pashmina Shawl varies from Rs 1 lakh to 5 lakh. Pashmina shawls are gifted in high-end corporate events and are also considered as the perfect gift for grand weddings.
The embroidery takes a whole year depending on the design and on the amount of coverage of the ground. And with the freezing winters in Kashmir, it gets much more difficult for the weavers and embroiders to do their work. “Making a single piece is one person’s toil for one whole year, making it their earnings for the entire year. So when we tell people that you come and buy the shawl, we are also giving the craftsmen a reason to make yet another shawl. Until he sells a piece, he is not going to make another. There were times when they made beautiful pieces but didn’t know who to sell them to,” informed Varuna. “Pashmina will give you the warmth, if it doesn’t, it is not Pashmina. But the value is not in the material, it is in the work done on the shawl (per piece),” added Varuna.
Making Pashmina shawls is not a lost art; rather, it’s a dying art because it’s a luxury that common people cannot afford and because the craftmen’s succesors are not willing to carry forward the craft. They would rather want to do government and easier paying jobs. Earlier, the craftsmen would take a lot of pride in what they did.
For the people who want to experience the look and feel of real Pashmina, ‘The Splendor of Kashmir’ has held an exhibition of various gorgeous Pashmina shawls and scarves at The Imperial Hotel, Janpath which is on till December 8 from 10:30 am to 7 pm.