Where to buy a fake pash in the Big Apple

theprintedthought.blogspot.com

According to Julie Blumenfeld, one of the nice things about life in the City is the omnipresent vendor. Among the great bargains is "the ideal outfit-coordinating essential: the Pashmina scarf." Best place to get your $5 pash? "Outside the New York Public Library on the corner of 40th Street and 5th Avenue. There is usually a vendor stationed there in the Fall who offers the largest color and pattern selection of Pashminas I've ever encountered."

Thanks for letting us share, Julie!

Nepal pashmina exports soar

KOL news; posted on Nepal 1st

KATHMANDU, Aug 6 - The export of pashmina products soared by 243.8 percent during the first 11 months of the last fiscal year 2008/09.


According to Nepal Rastra Bank, Nepal exported pashmina products worth Rs. 1.23 billion, whereas exports during the same period in 2007/08 amounted to only Rs. 375.9 million.

Shankar Prasad Pandey, president of the Nepal Pashmina Industries Association (NPIA), said that the rise in the export of pashmina amid the world recession was satisfactory. "We have been facing the effects of the recession, but it has not hit Nepali pashmina as hard as expected," said Pandey.

He added that export performance had been enhanced by the export of high quality pashmina products and appreciation of the U.S. dollar against
the Nepali rupee. Pashmina sweaters, blankets, tunics, party wears and boutique products are some of the major high quality products.

Karken Tangboten Gurung, managing director of Everest Pashmina Knitting and Weaving Industry, said that the overall situation of pashmina exports till date was satisfactory. Everest Pashmina is one of the five largest exporters in Nepal.
"Exports have improved in recent months, but the major challenge is how to maintain the pace," said Gurung. "There should be provision of income tax waiver, loans at subsidized interest rates and labour flexibility to help the pashmina industry and increase exports."

According to the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal, pashmina is one of the major handicraft products that is exported to more than 40 countries worldwide. The U.S.A., Germany, the U.K, Japan, France, Canada, Italy, China, Switzerland and the Netherlands were the top 10 buyers of Nepali pashmina during the last fiscal year.

Nepali pashmina has already received the trade mark logo in Australia, Norway and Japan. The NPIA is trying to get the brand logo registered in the E.U. and 11 other countries in a bid to guarantee quality and stop fake products from being passed off as Nepali pashmina.


KOL News

That Bloody Holiday, again

September 19 to 28: It's that time of year again. Dasain. (The word is often spelled Dashain, but that is misleading, as the "sh" is really just an aspirated "s" - barely distinguishable from an ordinary "s," to our ears - and not the digraph /sh/ as pronounced in shawl.) Ten days of joyful merrymaking in Nepal, a month-long holiday for schoolkids. Our embroiders will be off-duty for at least two weeks. Thousands and thousands of buffalo, goats, and chickens slaughtered in public sacrifices. Why? Theoretically, the festival commemorates the victory of the goddess Durga over the demon enemies, particularly the awful black buffalo demon. In fact, it's basically a fall harvest festival, like our Thanksgiving -- only we generally slaughter our millions of turkeys out of sight on industrial poultry farms instead of in the middle of towns and cities for all to enjoy. (Except in Wasilla, Alaska.)

Although, shamefully, many foreigners are attracted by the spectacle of tens of thousands of buffalo, goats, and chickens being beheaded and spattered about, we bleeding hearts at Bridges-PRTD have always made an effort to stay out of Kathmandu, away from the Hindu population enters, during this festival. In Rolwaling Valley, where we do most of our work, there is a Sherpa holiday intended to help the milling souls of the slaughtered animals find their way quickly to the next life -- hopefully in a gentler, kinder, vegan world.

For a more knowledgeable view of this holiday, read our friend Sanjay Nepal's latest blog entries.

Spoiler: No slaughter in this clip. Not much English, either.