THE PASHMINA TRAIL

Through mountains and valleys, writer BANDANA TEWARI and photographer ASHISH SHAH traverse the terrains of Ladakh to discover the visceral interconnectedness between man, nature and cloth

- BANDANA TEWARI

It is to hear this, sung by the Changthang nomads when they shear the goats, that we embarked on a Pashmina Trail in Ladakh. Our quest was to reach the origin of the pashmina or ‘soft gold’, world-renowned for its gossamer touch, sophisticated glaze and cocooning warmth.

This extraordinary journey to reach the nomadic pastoralists in Ladakh, the only place in India where Tibetan pashmina goats are raised, was, in a nutshell, to understand the quintessence of inner luxury —the path that connects makers and consumers. It was a quest to understand the real value of the ‘things’ we acquire. In a world where there is a deathly disconnection between what we buy and how it is made, this was a journey to understand and deeply honour the reciprocity between product, people, process and environment.

Pashmina is derived from the Persian word pashm, which means wool in its raw unprocessed form, and pashmina refers to the cloth woven from pashm. This ‘soft gold’ fibre has travelled for millennia from Ladakh to Kashmir, where it continues to be woven into exquisite shawls. Pashmina came to be known as cashmere in the West because Europeans first encountered the fine cloth in Kashmir.

Nestled between the primordial Himalayan and Karakoram ranges, every ascending turn and twist to Changthang was rapturous. Perched 18,000 feet above sea level, our meandering route set the tone for the magic that would unfold. Martian orange mountains sizzled in the sun, like a secret Game of Thrones location, the extra-terrestrial topography making Ladakh dizzyingly cinematic.