Winter Warmth The market offers an opportunity for them to eke out a living and provide attractive market for people
Wizened Norbur reminisced the day when he fled from his homeland and took refuge in Kanpur . Even a slight mention of the fateful day of March 10,1959 made him dejected as the Chinese army occupied Tibet on that day. He took the initiative to set up the Tibetan market in the city in the seventies.
“Any thought of the day makes me somber as China occupied Tibet on that day I had to leave my homeland and migrate to india. I decided to setup the Tibetan market in the 70’s and I haven’t looked back ever since. Memories of homeland still linger on in my mind. I wish to go back to Tibet one day.”, Norbur said.
More than 30 years has passed since then and the market has both grown in quality and shape.The market has offered an opportunity for fellow Tibetans to eke out a living.
Sales of woolens in the market has gone up by 70 to 80 percent within a years time. Bicky a salesman said, “Profits vary depending on how temperature falls or plummets in a given year.Sales usually picks up pace during the peak winter season.Such has been the case over the past three days when temperature dropped to 2.6 degrees in Kanpur.
At a time when the mercury dipped below the bearable mark, the Tibetan woolen market at the Parade crossover near Naveen market in Kanpur turned out to be the sought after destination.Here’s where several Kanpurites turned up to buy woolens.
The market which runs for about 3 to 4 months, has a wide range of wollen goods to offer.the major attractions are a wide array of woolen clothes.Rainbow,Angora and bulbul seemed to attract those turning up for winterwear the most.Bulbul, produced in Punjab, Ludhiana and Himachal Pradesh, became a runaway hit with people. Specially made woolen shawls and woolens made of luke leather are some of the specialities of the Tibetans and their work.
When asked about the idea of starting this market, one of the Tibetans from Himachal Pradesh Yang Chen, a lady said, “ Selling woolen items in such markets provides livelihood for us. Whatever we earn out of this goes into our childrens’ education since we are not into farming or some other trade. Naturally we look for maximum profits. “
She however refused to comment on the amount of profits they made this time.Chen further added, “ The popularity of these Tibetan markets is growing day by day.These are not city centric, they are spread across 27 states of India.The popularity can be gauged by the fact that Jaipur alone has 500 such outlets.
Tenzing Sangay, another shopkeeper said, “We never compromise on quality when it comes to serving the common man during winter.We have very good quality varieties like Danel cloth, PNP , Charesh , long cardigans with belts or body fit sweaters which are among the best.”
(Published in Hindustan Times Kanpur Edition January 8,2011)
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