Monday, November 28, 2011

The King and the Brahmin

Sham S. Misri
Long ago, in India, there lived a king. He was a kind and generous ruler. He distributed free food to the poor and needy and built hospitals for the sick and old, and rest-houses for travelers along the roadside. The king was pleased with himself for having done so much for his kingdom. One day he saw two birds flying over him and talking. "Be careful while passing over the King” one of them said. "The glow of his fame may burn you to ashes."  
"You must be joking" replied the partner, "as if the King is greater than the humble cart-man". The king understood their conversation and became thoughtful.
"Who is this cart-man?"  The king thought carefully. "How could he earn more merit than me?” The King felt restless and could not sleep. Next morning, when the king woke up he called his ministers and told them about the bird talk he had overheard.
"Now go and search for this cart- man" the King ordered, "He is the most pious of all men." A big search was done to locate the cart-man.  Many days passed and finally they were told by a peasant that the cart-man lived in their village. All the king’s men then saw a poor cart driver. He was sitting on the ground and engaged in his own thought. "Our king wishes to meet you" said the king’s men. "Well, here I am," said the cart-man, without moving from his place. "The king can come here if he wants to see me." The attendants were surprised. "What does our king want from this man?" The king was happy to hear that the cart-man was found. He decided to see the cart-man in his village. The King took with him some army men and some gold jewellery. When the King reached there, he introduced himself and said, "I have heard a great deal about you. I am told that you are one of the rarest Brahman."
The king told the cart-man "I will give you all that you desire, and in return you give me the supreme knowledge of Brahman."The cart-man smiled, and told the king, "Oh king! The knowledge of Brahman cannot be purchased. You are not yet ready to receive the supreme knowledge. Go home." The sad king returned to his palace. He was sad, always wondering, "What do I lack?" His sadness and sincere anxiety to know Brahman, made him humble. His ego disappeared. The King became a different person. He decided to go to the cart-man once again. Upon reaching the cart-man the king requested to impart him the knowledge of Brahman. "Enlighten me" the king cried out "I have no peace. Your knowledge has more richness than my kingdom. This time the cart man saw that the king had lost all his pride. There was true desire for knowledge.  He picked up the king and said, "I bless you, O honest king. All the knowledge that is mine is yours as well." The king could realize that the cart man was poor but rich by knowledge.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Shah Toosh - The King of Wool

Sham S. Misri

Pashmina is a soft wool made from the fleece of the Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii), also known as Chiru. It is common to the Tibetan Plateau and is found between China and the Ladakh region in India. Chiru are good runners and can move as fast as 50 mph. The population of Chiru is declining. Although loss of habitat and adverse weather certainly contribute to population declines, the most serious threat to the Chiru is poaching. Approximately 20,000 males, females, and young are killed each year by poachers who value the Chiru for their wool, known in international markets as shahtoosh meaning “King of wool”. Shahtoosh fibers are extremely fine and are considered the softest and warmest wool in the world.

After killing the Chiru, poachers usually skin the animal immediately; the hides are then sold to dealers who prepare the Shahtoosh.

Once Shahtoosh raw material reaches Jammu and Kashmir, it is dirty and soiled. Having come from the goat, it has all coarse hairs. To transform this unpromising material into a fabric of fineness, takes all the artistry and skill of Kashmir’s spinners, dyers, weavers and many ancillary workers. The work of picking out from the raw fiber, hair by hair, entirely by hand is a painstaking job. The raw material is meticulously processed into expensive and fashionable shawls and scarves. It is estimated that hand dehairing of 50 grams of pashm takes upto eight hours. Next, wool’s natural oil and other impurities are removed by rubbing damp rice flour. The yield of the finest quality fiber is about 35 % of the original weight. Fiber diameter is measured in microns (one micron is equal to 1/1000 mm). For comparison a human hair has a diameter of 70 microns. Finest sheep’s wool e.g. Merino breeds is in the range of (16-25 Microns), camel hair 17 microns; Toosh (Tus), from Chiru is the finest of all, at 9-12 microns. Goat –Pashm falls in mid-range amongst the finest fibers.

Kashmir’s shawls are woven not from goat Pashm but from even more delicate fiber, Toosh, The Pashm of Chiru. This is the finest animal fibre ever put to loom. It is very difficult to distinguish between Toosh and pashmina fabrics. A microscopic examination shows a clear difference in the structure of fibers and lesser micron count. In wear the Toosh shawls show a combination of lightness, softness and warmth, which is incomparable. Toosh comes in white and shades of brown, depending upon the part of the body it is plucked from. White from the throat and belly of the male is at a premium, and may at certain times have been reserved for royal or imperial wear hence- “Shahtoosh”. Toosh was weighed at the rate of 18 pal to the seer instead of standard 22; [Pal is a measure of weight, 37 grams]. Breeders select for white, a process made easier by the fact that, genetically, white is dominant to color. For this reason the great majority of Cashmere goats in the world today produce white fiber. The browns and grays which are other natural colors of the fiber are identified in 19th century texts as ‘Khudrang’ self colored. Khudrang, however, dyes well into darker shades, the base color giving them vibrancy and depth. Approximately 4-5 ounces of shahtoosh can be processed from one Chiru carcass, and 3-5 hides are necessary to make one shawl.

Kashmiri ladies are very fond of Pashmina. Everyone wants to use high embroidered pashmina shawl. Pashmina is the finest fibers ever woven. Kashmiri women used to spin and weave their own pashmina; no one else knew the secret technique that produced the inimitable weave. Spinning, a hereditary skill among the women of many Kashmiri families, looks ridiculously easy, until you try it. The magic in the fingers and manipulation of the fiber as it leaves the spinners left hand, and the absolute precision and coordination between hand and spindle. To spin Pashmina of extraordinary fineness is a skill which has been passed down from mother to daughter for generations.

A length of hollow paddy straw slipped over the spindle serves as a replaceable bobbin, and later the yarn is wound off the straws on to a large reel or swift (Kashmiri pritz). It is then doubled and twisted, again using the wheel; finally it is wound into standard size hanks with the help of a simple device; a block of wood with two large nails driven into it at a fixed distance apart. The yarn in every hank is counted off into bundles of twenty threads, each tied with a length of sewing cotton, for ease of calculating the amount , both for payment due to the spinner , and getting the correct quantities dyed.

“Pashmina has always meant security for the women of Kashmir. In the old days women got saris of pashmina in their trousseaux, but they only wore everyday wool at home. If they fell upon bad days they cut a shawl out of a length of pashmina and sold it to the shawl peddler for cash. Never forget, these shawl are equal to gold.”

Books by the Author(s)

Cleopatra and Harmachis - Part-2: The Finding of Treasure