{"id":9864,"date":"2017-06-19T15:31:54","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T10:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kashmir.today\/?p=9864"},"modified":"2017-06-19T15:31:54","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T10:01:54","slug":"fulfil-fathers-dream-valley-girl-takes-business-new-heights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/?p=9864","title":{"rendered":"To fulfil father\u2019s dream, Valley girl takes business to new heights"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>Srinagar:&nbsp;<\/strong>Meral Kathwari, a 22-year-old Kashmiri girl, is taking the journey of her late father forward by expanding his carpet business and using technology to reach every corner of the globe.In the early 1980s, Meral\u2019s father Tariq Kathwari started a carpet business in the Valley at Srinagar\u2019s posh Polo View market when the situation was peaceful.\u201cI was born in New Delhi and moved with my parents to the US when I was four, a move prompted by my severe asthma. There was less pollution in the US and I was getting better care and treatment living in Santa Fe, New Mexico,\u201d says Meral, who is a communication professional. \u201cEventually, my dad moved back to Kashmir for business and my mom and I stayed in the US,\u201d she adds.After high school in New York, when Meral\u2019s health was better, she made visits to the Valley to spend time with her father and help him in his business. But after his death in 2014, things changed for Meral.After her father\u2019s death, Meral started receiving messages from his many customers and suppliers around the world encouraging her to take the business ahead.\u201cHe had a unique eye and brought a lot of different design concepts to the Valley, which he picked up from his world travels,\u201d says Meral, who considers Kashmir her roots and home.\u201cI was torn between two careers, but I thought to myself, why can\u2019t I fulfil both and use each to its advantage? That\u2019s what I\u2019ve been doing for the past two years,\u201d says Meral, who spends her summers in the Valley when it is the peak season for business. The advantage for Meral unlike many was that her father\u2019s business was already well established when he passed away.\u201cHis work and designs have been shown in museums and international art shows around the world. However, he didn\u2019t have much of an online presence,\u201d says Meral, who used her communications skills to develop an online website to drive sales and get more recognition from her father\u2019s customers.Being a communication student, Meral uses social media and the Internet to expand the brand name and increase sales. \u201cWe get a lot of sales and clients through social media,\u201d she adds.Meral says there is an incredible market for Kashmiri rugs overseas but its sells even more if the designs are modern and pleasing. \u201cThe design is usually what catches the attention of the international client first. I\u2019ve continued to grow the brand and export to different countries around the world. I didn\u2019t want to lose our workers,\u201d she says.It has been difficult for Meral to carry on the business in Kashmir but she says it has been worth the efforts. \u201cI was doing things which other kids of my age weren\u2019t. If I\u2019d get a break from school, I\u2019d travel back to Kashmir, even if it was just for five days, to check up on everything. I would liaison with my workers from the US through WhatsApp or other online platforms,\u201d says Meral, who has been using the Internet to check on the activities at her showroom.\u201cOur carpets, kelims, and handmade chain stitch rugs are made in sustainable environment. My dad chose quality over any other aspect in his business and because of this, his rugs are able to weather a lifetime,\u201d says Meral.Meral started the business when she was 20 and it is the dream of her father that she was to carry on.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Tribune News Service<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Srinagar:&nbsp;Meral Kathwari, a 22-year-old Kashmiri girl, is taking the journey of her late father forward by expanding his carpet business and using technology to reach every corner of the globe.In the early 1980s, Meral\u2019s father Tariq Kathwari started a carpet business in the Valley at Srinagar\u2019s posh Polo View market when the situation was peaceful.\u201cI [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9865,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-union-territory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}