Asif and Arif Kamal both knew that a nine-to-five job was not their cup of tea. The older of the two brothers, 40-year-old Asif, is an engineer as well as a law graduate who was once deeply interested in politics. Now, he can think of nothing but business. And Arif, 37, is a geologist who sowed the seeds of their export house in 1987.
Woodson Impex Pvt Ltd is one of the largest exporters of crewel- embroidered fabric to Europe. Today, their company has an annual turnover of Rs 6 crore.
Even though the two don't come from Kashmir, the brothers have strong links with the valley because they spent the majority of their childhood and youth there, as their father worked in All India Radio, Srinagar.
For a business that started quite by a stroke of chance _ Arif was on a holiday in England when he discovered a market for crewel work _ today the brothers are proud of the fact that they supply to Harrods and Selfridges as well as to shops in Germany and Spain. They tapped the US market just a year ago and have already notched up sales of $200,000 in this one year.
Arif : It all began when we went to attend a wedding in Kashmir in 1987. There we met a friend who was a doctor but who was also in the crewel-work business. He suggested that since I was making a trip to England to meet my sister who was married there, I might as well carry a sample of crewel work and show it around. I took his advice and when I was in London, went to the John Lewis store. They liked what I showed them but wanted to see more and I had only one piece with me. But I knew my sister must have some crewel work bedcover or cushion cover given to her during her wedding. So I returned the next day armed with one of my sister's bedcover. They gave me a small order of 100 metres. And in my excitement, I promised to complete it in a record time of two months.
I returned to Srinagar and sourced all my goods from my doctor friend but was unable to complete the order in two months. But as compensation, I promised to air-lift the goods at my own cost instead of sending them by ship as was earlier decided. I earned only Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 from this job.
Asif: While Arif was busy trying to set up some sort of business, I was involved in politics with H N Bahuguna. But at the same time I was also working with my maternal uncle Ershad Mirza of Mirza Tanners. In fact, even Arif had had a stint with them. And I feel we both were unconsciously groomed for business there.
Arif: After the first assignment was sent there was silence for about six months, though I kept sending them more samples. Then one fine day, I got a big order of about
