Pheren on Fleek

By the end of the year, as the nip in the air is felt, Delhi boasts an array of events—trade fairs, lit fests, musical shows, and food festivals. What stands out at these events is the outfit most women are donning: Kashmiri pherans. Women, both Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri, carry this traditional garb with sartorial panache, exuding oodles of oomph and style at every event.

At Jashn-e-Rekhta, a recent celebration of the rich Urdu language and literature, the female crowd displayed the vibrant tapestry of Kashmiri pherans in myriad hues and intricate embroideries. Some paired them with high boots, adding flair, while others styled them with trousers, leggings, pants, or palazzos. Kashmiri pherans, hands down, are the outfit of the day (OOTD), carving a niche in fashion circles. Even panelists and anchors on various TV channels are often spotted wearing pherans, looking effortlessly gorgeous with their glam quotient on point.

Personally, I eagerly await the onset of winter to flaunt my enviable collection of pherans. With their two pockets to stash a phone and car keys, who even needs to carry a bag?

This warm, loose, colorful piece of rich craftsmanship is not just a cloak to throw on but a garment close to our hearts. The warp and weft of its fabric flood us with nostalgic memories. Though the pherans of our childhood were thick woolen pieces in stark, dark, and sometimes unappealing colors, often lined with white fabric, they evoke warm recollections of chilly winters with ember-laden kangris underneath. The white lining served multiple purposes—it was an omnipresent handkerchief for runny noses, a towel for drying chapped faces and hands after splashes of icy water, and even a way for women to discreetly dry their moistened eyes.

For babies, pherans were the ultimate sleeping bags. Bundled in the laps of their pheran-clad mothers, they would drift into the sweetest, coziest slumber, a true Shangri-La. Children nestled inside their fathers’ pherans, craning their heads out, enjoyed the most comfortable stroller or pram the world had to offer.

No literary work on Kashmir is complete without mentioning this quintessential garment. Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children opens with a beautiful account of a shikarawala in a pheran.

Pherans are here to stay—a big shout-out to this stylish, warm, and comfortable piece of our rich heritage and culture, connecting us to our roots. This cloak not only warms our bodies but also cloaks our suffering, reminding us of the spirit of our homeland.

#WorldPheranDay