Shaheena Akhtar, 34, an award-winning Kani shawl entrepreneur based in Srinagar’s Old City, not only weaves trends into tradition but also helps weavers in distress, most of them women.
Of the six siblings born in a modest family, Shaheena is the only one with a college degree in arts, but she had to drop out due to the family’s economic condition in 2004.
“I started learning shawl weaving from my elder brother, while our father, Ghulam Ahmad Rather, used to tin-coat (kalai) copper utensils,” she recalls. Four of her siblings, including two brothers, became shawl weavers but her penchant for innovation began getting her business and recognition.
In 2014, she received the Jammu and Kashmir’s exemplary entrepreneur award for her Kani shawls. In 2017, she was felicitated by Hindustan Times at its sixth edition of 30 young achievers from the region.
Opportunity in adversity
All was well until her marriage in 2017 to an abusive husband, who forced her to quit weaving. After 15 difficult months, she got divorced but was not welcomed back by her brothers. She started from a scratch again, this time with some personal savings. “I wouldn’t have been here in the first place had my brothers not supported me. But then things change. After the divorce, I became a stranger in my own house,” she says.
“I decided not to give up. I had started from zero and was back to zero. I took it as a challenge and with the help of neighbours have succeeded again,” she says.
Shaheena started living with her mother in a part of their ancestral house and travelled to Amritsar in 2019 to participate in a handicraft exhibition. She took a loan to put her business back on track and today it’s flourishing despite the Covid-19 restrictions.
Know your customer
Weaving the Kani shawl is a traditional and intricate art, but artisans rarely get the returns for middlemen pocket the gains.
After registering with the J&K handicrafts department in 2008, she went for an exhibition the next year that was the turning point. “Few educated women join the shawl sector. That exposure gave me the confidence and insight into the demand,” she says. “People abroad prefer tone to tone shawls instead of colourful ones. Once I even saw my shawl displayed in a showroom in Italy!” she says.
Shaheena recalls how one of her uncles was on the brink of bankruptcy. “He had woven shawls on traditional patterns but there were no takers. He didn’t know the trend. Weavers hardly do, but with a little help, he started getting good returns,” she says.
She credits her knowledge about customer preferences to her travels to handicraft exhibitions in different cities, including Delhi, Jaipur and Amritsar. “Now, there are several export offers, too,” she says.
Help others to help yourself
Shaheena is invited by the handicrafts department to give motivational speeches to women artisans. “I’ve given over 100 motivational speeches at awareness camps. More women are joining the handicrafts business. They realise that a woman is not insecure when she leaves home to do something in life,” she says.
“Girls can take on any challenge. I work more than my brothers,” she says.
At present, she provides employment to about 1,000 people, including Pashmina spinners, weavers, dye givers and washermen and women.
Every year, she produces about 100 shawls, including plain Pashmina, Kani and Sozni. “I keep innovating. I’ve started a readymade garment business of pherans and stoles in addition to the shawls,” she adds.
