Falak Bilal
Srinagar, Jun 27: Long before a Pashmina shawl reaches a showroom or a hand-knotted carpet adorns a home, its journey begins in a workshop where colour is created by hand. In the narrow lanes of Downtown Srinagar, one artisan has quietly spent nearly two decades ensuring that Kashmir’s finest textiles carry the richness and depth for which they are known across the world.
For Tariq Ahmad Posh, dyeing yarn is more than an occupation—it is a family inheritance that has shaped three generations. A Bachelor of Commerce graduate by education and a traditional Rangrez (master hand-dyer) by profession, the 17 years he has spent mixing colours have been devoted to preserving a craft that remains largely invisible to the public.
Inside his modest workshop, skeins of wool, silk and Pashmina are transformed into vibrant shades that later become exquisite shawls, carpets and embroidered garments. What appears to be a simple process is, in reality, a highly skilled craft guided by instinct, memory and experience.
Using only five base colours—brown, orange, pink, yellow and blue—Tariq creates dozens of traditional Kashmiri hues. The precise proportions are neither written in manuals nor taught in classrooms. They are passed from one generation to another through years of observation and practice.
“Every colour has its own character. Even a slight mistake in mixing or timing can change the entire shade,” Tariq says while carefully stirring a steaming vat of dye. “This knowledge comes from experience. You cannot learn it overnight.”
The workshop is filled with the smell of dyes and rising steam. Bundles of yarn are repeatedly dipped into boiling cauldrons, lifted out, rinsed and dried before they are ready for weavers and embroiderers. The work demands precision, patience and physical endurance.
For Tariq, the cost of keeping this tradition alive has been personal.
Standing for long hours in humid conditions, handling heavy loads of wet yarn and working close to intense heat has gradually affected his health. Yet, he returns to the workshop each day, determined to continue the craft entrusted to him by his forefathers.
“People admire the beauty of a finished Pashmina, but very few know how much labour goes into preparing its colours,” he says. “Our work stays behind the scenes, even though it is the first step in creating these masterpieces.”
Despite his deep attachment to the profession, Tariq hopes the next generation of his family will choose a different path.
“I respect this craft because it gave us an identity,” he says. “But I don’t want my children to struggle the way I have. They deserve better education, stable jobs and a more secure future.”
His words reflect a growing concern within Kashmir’s traditional craft sector. Many young people are leaving hereditary occupations in search of better-paying careers, raising fears that specialised skills perfected over centuries may gradually disappear.
Artisans say that while Kashmiri handicrafts continue to enjoy global recognition, those involved in the earliest and most demanding stages of production often remain underappreciated and financially vulnerable.
For Tariq, however, quitting has never been an option.
“As long as my hands can work, I will continue. This is not just my livelihood—it is my family’s legacy and a part of Kashmir’s heritage.”
As colourful threads leave his workshop to be woven into world-renowned Pashmina shawls and carpets, few buyers will ever know the hands that first gave them life. Yet behind every vibrant weave lies the quiet dedication of artisans like Tariq Ahmad Posh—keepers of a centuries-old tradition whose greatest challenge today is not creating colour, but ensuring that the craft itself does not fade away.
