Appliqué and various embroidered design motifs are added to many of the garments by the skilled team of embroiderers. Israil, 34, comes from a remote village in Jharkand, a newly formed state which was formerly part of Bihar in North India. He has worked as an embroiderer for 14 years, and has worked in different parts of India, including Delhi and Amritsar. Israil misses his wife and three children, and regularly makes the 36 hour train trip to see them. He would like to bring his family to Dharamsala, but being Muslim he wants his children to learn Urdu and Arabic, which is not available at schools in Dharamsala.

Ismail, 26, is head of the hosiery section, and comes from Shadpur, West Bengal, 1500 km from Dharamsala. He comes from a family of ten children (one of whom, Babu, is a cutter in the hosiery room). He came to Dharamsala after working in Delhi as he felt he could further his career and learn new skills here. He’s one of the stars of the workshop football team, along with Jampel in the store.