Ghulam Rasool Shah is a Pashmina Artisan who has been a shawl maker for the past 25 years. An artisan who has seen many ups and downs in this trade, but is striving ahead with no intention of quitting or giving up. A passionate artisan who is lucky enough to have his sons follow his league as Pashmina Shawls Makers.
Ghulam Sahab is an illiterate and some 35 years ago started off as a carpet weaver when he was 18 years of age. Due to the major downfall of Kashmir Carpet Industry, I had to quit and was looking for a new job for myself. It took me sometime before I could settle down on one thing. It was then when I finally decided to become a Pashmina Weaver. I learned weaving, both plain pashmina weaving as well as Kani weaving for about 2 years. My younger brother who had always been a weaver helped me learn weaving and taught me other things about Pashmina.
I started my own small karkhaana (workshop) in a room at my house, weaving pashmina shawls and stoles in the traditional hues and patterns. Life was moving forward with a promise and hope of a new beginning. I got a good order of Pashmina Shawls. A custom order for many colors in plain pashminas. I worked really hard for this order. It was my one big order in the start. I put every effort and every second of my time into it. Once the order was ready, the party refused to take it. I was shocked and did not understand why! They refused my entire stock on the context of it being costly as they were getting the same thing in the market for a much cheaper price. I had kept minimum profit in this order and could not understand how in the world they would be getting a pashmina shawl for that price. I asked them to show it to me and when I did, I was shocked to my core to realize that what they were getting was not genuine pashmina but a cheap imitation in its place. I tried to reason with them but they were not convinced. It was a huge loss for me. That stock lied with me for more than five years, having been a custom order it was very difficult for me to find a buyer for them.
I after some years hired some fellow artisans who helped me work on the loom. The business was good and my pashmina production was flourishing. At this time, every artisan was going to other states to make sales. I too went along, but I found that being an illiterate having no strong hold on English language, I suffered a lot. I really felt bad for not having taken school seriously. My father had always pushed me to school but I would always run away. It was times like these, when I realized how much I had missed on. I was not good at speaking and as such suffered a lot. I with whatever I could make of it, tried to find some buyers for my shawl and return back to home.
Then came another setback in my life. I had sold some Pashmina Shawls to some local traders. I never got my payment from them. They took the shawls and never paid me. They suffered some loss in their business which eventually reflected on me as well. That was a major setback to me. I ran out of money and could not even procure my raw materials, the essential pashm fibers. I was rendered to point zero in my life. I had to start again, start again from scratch. That was the most difficult phase of my life.
To make some money for starting production again, I worked on Kani Pashmina Shawls. I would take orders for kani weaving and make as many shawls as I could. I worked in double shifts, made a couple of jamawars which alone took me two to three years. But I made some money, Alhamdulillah which got me back into production. Kani Pashmina was good money but it took a lot of time and owing to its high cost, the demand was not so high. One kani pashmina sold after a 100 pashmina would sell. It was similar to that. After that, I was always very careful in regards to these big orders and money. I had learned my lessons, twice and the sufferings they brought to me and my work were more than enough for me to repeat such mistakes again.
So how is work now?
By the grace of God, all is good now. Yes, the demands have gone down, there are imitations everywhere. Fake Pashminas are being sold on the name of Kashmir. Thankfully for me, in a time when everyone is giving up on this art and moving to different things, wherein generational line of work is being replaced by government jobs and outside jobs, both my sons are interested in my work and are helping me in this art.
I have three sons, the eldest two are helping me in my business and the youngest is still in school. Both Hilal and Bilal are interested in carrying on my work forward, making it their business as well. It is a proud moment for any father when he reaches a time where his sons join him and put in a helping hand. They are educated and have an idea of modern business strategies which their father lacks.
How come you are interested in Pashmina making when boys of your age are either pursuing their masters or are in an overseas job?
(Hilal) After I finished my B.Com I went to Dubai for a job. I stayed there for almost a year. Everything was good but in my heart I always knew that I would eventually have to come back. To Kashmir, my home. That was what prompted me to come back and join my father in his business.
As children, we had always seen him working in the karkhaana. Working on the looms, him and his workers would tirelessly weave a beautiful Pashmina shawl, soft and beautiful. I had a very close relation with artisans, having seen them closely all my life. Their wages were going from low to lowest having been replaced by the machines; it was like these artisans had no value ascertained to them anymore. It pained me. I was after all a son of an artisan, how could their plight not move me? I and Bilal together decided that we should do something to revive this dying art and help as much and anyhow we could to make the lives of these artisans a little better.
We live in a fast paced world. The world does not stop for anyone or for anything. Our father did his business in traditional ways of making Pashminas and then selling them to local traders and exporters. We wish to create a brand, a label for our Pashmina Shawls. We wish to make our label, Hami, a benchmark for genuine Pashmina all over the world. Branding is what we are currently striving for through our pure and genuine Pashmina.
What is Hami, then?
We intend Hami to become a world renowned brand in terms of Pashmina. Not just for traditional Pashminas but for modern pashmina shawls and stoles as well. We are now creating a new line of Pashminas, of modern designs and trendy colors. We are trying to carry both traditional and new age Pashmina. The traditional always find its admirers but modern pashmina is a necessity to meet up with the modern fashion trends of the world. Hami is a Persian word that means a defender, a protector. Reviving the dying art of Pashmina and shawl making, while introducing modern designs and trends for the newer generations, is what Hami is all about.
Custom orders, color and pattern specializations in Pashmina is what we deal in. We have pure Pashminas that are 100% genuine and come with money back guarantee if proven otherwise. Bilal here is interested in the design part while as I look after the marketing. We are connecting with many fashion designers to introduce Pashmina in their product line. Some are willing to work with us others are reluctant owing to factors like price and time.
Together as a family we are working to revive the art of pashmina shawl; shawl making in hand heir looms avoiding machine as much as we can. I want Hami to become a Brand for Modern Design Pashminas, getting a global recognition for our quality is what we are working towards. Under the patronage of our father, the two of us wish to take this glorious Kashmir art to new horizons.
Source : https://www.kashmirbox.com/blog/artisans-of-kashmir-the-blog/hami%E2%80%93the-patrons-of-pashmina-the-blog
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