For Sajjad Ahmad, making shawls is more than just a job—it’s a family identity. For generations, his family living in the small town of Kanihama, located in the Budgam district in the Indian-administered region of Jammu and Kashmir, has created hand-knit masterpieces. These pashmina creations, fashioned from the dyed wool of goats from the nearby Ladakh region, are so central to the village that they’re woven into its very name.
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00:00 For hundreds of years, a small town in what is known today as the territory of Jammu and Kashmir
00:08 has crafted shawls coveted throughout history by Sikh Maharajas, Mughal kings and European monarchs.
00:17 Taking anywhere from four months to two years to complete,
00:21 these intricate textiles become extensions of the weavers who create them.
00:27 And this artistic legacy can be found anywhere,
00:31 whether a friend's well-stocked wardrobe or in a world-famous museum.
00:37 This is the town of Kani Hama, ancestral home of the Kani shawl,
00:43 a Pashmina textile masterpiece that has become inseparable from the town's identity.
00:51 My name is Sajjad Ahmed. I am from Kani Hama village, where the Kani shawl was revived.
00:57 The name of this village is Kani Hama.
01:00 Kani because of this wooden school and Hama means village.
01:03 Hama is a village.
01:05 Although Kani shawls have an extensive legacy in this part of the world,
01:10 the craft almost vanished due to punishing taxes levied against weavers.
01:16 It took people like Ahmed's father, Gulam, to help revive and nurture the art form
01:22 that had for generations been intrinsically linked with his own family.
01:27 My father thought that this craft was part of his family,
01:32 so he wanted to revive it.
01:36 If you ask anyone in Kashmir about my father, Maroon,
01:40 they will say that he left this legacy behind and is now helping people.
01:48 Despite these shawls teetering on the edge of extinction,
01:52 Kani Hama is now the champagne of the shawl world.
01:56 Sure, other manufacturers can make shawls,
01:59 but only this small town in Kashmir can lay claim to its heritage of craftsmanship.
02:06 And that craftsmanship begins long before an artisan ever sits down at a loom.
02:14 The process begins by sourcing Pashmina wool from native Kashmir goats in the nearby region of Ladakh.
02:23 Workers separate hair, debris and other impurities from the soft wool,
02:29 before spinning it into yarn.
02:32 Pashmina is naturally white, so the yarn is then dyed in a variety of colours.
02:38 Once this high-quality yarn is ready, the weft and warp,
02:43 the two basic components that turn yarn into fabric, are prepared for the loom.
02:48 A weaver, a designer and their guide sit together and decide on a shawl design.
02:58 This is the technicality of the process, and then the team work is done to make the shawl.
03:04 The guide and weaver determine the shawl's price based on length,
03:09 while the designer goes over the intricacies of the shawl.
03:13 Finally, the weaver gets to work. Small wooden kani are set up on the loom.
03:19 One shawl can use up to 500 of these sticks at a time.
03:24 The weaver then creates the shawl using a coded pattern known as a tayalim.
03:30 And it's at this point that the artisans truly become one with their work.
03:36 When the weaver tightens the cloth, it becomes a habit to weigh the weight of the cloth.
03:48 If we have another weaver, who has a lighter weight,
03:54 the design becomes distorted, and it doesn't remain the same.
03:59 We have to be very careful with this, and there is no room for compromise.
04:04 If we have a weaver, how can we compromise?
04:07 It can take a weaver four months to create a basic shawl,
04:11 or up to two years to finish a highly intricate one, which can cost upwards of $12,000.
04:18 It's a process of meticulous attention, artistry, and hard work.
04:24 It takes one and a half years to work on one thing,
04:28 and one and a half years to sit on it, and one and a half years to tolerate it.
04:34 It's like putting a stone in the sea.
04:37 The weaver puts a stone in the sea every day, and after two or one and a half years,
04:41 the artist's work becomes more vibrant.
04:43 Today, more than 5,000 workers in the Kanihama region are involved in making Kani shawls.
04:50 And just as Sajid's father inspired him,
04:54 future generations are similarly taught the family business.
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05:23 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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