Srinagar, Jan. 9 -- People grimaced and scowled when Dr. Babar Afzal left a cushy job at Silicon Valley in California to support the real custodians of Pashmina in Ladakh's Changthang area, in 2012.

Come 2021, he has proved his detractors wrong by becoming the global icon. Pashmina goat herders affectionately call him Shepherd. He spends most of the time shuttling between Jammu and Ladakh.

Babar, who has added another feather to his cap by bagging the 'The Global Changemakers Award 2021' by 'Project 100', is presently trying to sensitize the policymakers in the United Kingdom and the White House about the Kashmiri Pashmina and its scope.

He is a recipient of several national and international awards including the Rajiv Gandhi Excellenc...