Srinagar, June 24 -- In the soft morning light of Baharabad, my hometown in Sumbal Bandipora, the sound of looms used to echo through the narrow lanes. There was a time when almost every house hummed with the rhythm of weaving.

Today, that sound has mostly faded. Only a few hands now carry the memory of the pashmina, the art that once kept our community alive, that once felt like a form of prayer.

Kashmir's art has always had a sacred weight. The valley has long been a meeting place of faiths, ideas, and stories, and all of them have found corners inside its crafts.

The famous pashmina shawls, soft as whispers, are not just cloth. They are months of devotion, woven by hands that know the value of patience. Each thread seems to carry a ...