While the evening settles in and people rush back to their homes, Fayaz keeps waiting for someone, anyone, to pause and turn back at the tapestry of multi-coloured Kashmiri woollens lined up against the wall of his tiny shop. Opening it led us to a man, smiling, waiting to show his large collection of woollens, travelled all the way from Kashmir. For decades, the arrival of Kashmiri ‘shawlwalas’ has quietly marked the onset of winter in West Bengal, especially in cities like Kolkata and Howrah. Every winter, I travel all the way from Kashmir and sell shawls. “I have my own car back in Kashmir; however, here [Howrah] I sell sweaters on my cycle,” Rafiq added with a laugh.

Source: The Telegraph December 22, 2025 12:26 UTC