Heat ripples off the dusty concrete, making the intricately beaded lehengas shimmer in the display case, luring you in with the promise of beautiful dresses and a relief from the blistering sun. When you enter, you’re transported to a traditional dress shop, cradled by gentle Bangla chatter and the vibrantly patterned fabrics that adorn the small store.
Standing behind the front desk, the owner, Nasreen Rahmans, greets you first with her warm brown eyes, which crinkle from decades spent forging a life in a new country. In stark contrast with the elaborate dresses surrounding her, Rahman wears a plain cotton saree as she urges you to “go explore the store.” Though her lingering accent rounds the harsh consonants as she speaks, her intention for you to make yourself at home is clear.
A staple in the South Asian neighborhood of Jackson Heights, her store, Pashmina, has supplied the community with traditional kurtas, sarees, and decorative jewelry for almost 30 years. They specialize primarily in traditional wedding attire, which is nearly impossible to source in the US. As a result, her store receives clients from as far as Washington, DC, looking for authentic clothes to replicate the traditional weddings back in their hometowns.
In order to keep up with the demand, Rahmans travels back to Bangladesh or India every 2 to 3 months, handpicking the next shipment of clothes and jewelry to stock her store. “I enjoy the work and the travel, it helps me to visit my family often,” Rahmans said.
Originally from Bangladesh, Rahmans and her husband migrated to the US in 1996 in search of a better life for their forthcoming children. Invited by previous family who had already settled in the States, the Rahmans arrived in New York with the security of a community to welcome them.
Back at home, Rahmans had gone to school to be a town planner, and her husband an architect. Pivoting quickly from their original plans of owning a real estate company, the couple jumped for the chance to buy the boutique from the previous owner. “I never had any thoughts of opening this business,” Rahmans said. “But all of a sudden, I got this opportunity and so I took it.”
While Rahmans handled the store, her husband took on the accounting and raising of their two girls, Shama and Karishma. Contrary to traditional Bangladeshi norms, Rahmans became the breadwinner of the family, marking one of the first women owned and operated businesses in Jackson Heights.
Though she came to the US for a better life for her kids, Rahmans remained committed to teaching her kids their culture. She still speaks to them in Bangla, and their Bangladeshi community often meets over the weekends to connect with one another. “We don’t miss Bangladesh here,” she said. “We say it is our country. I have close relatives there – aunts, uncles, mostly everyone is still there. But, compared to other places, this area is very good.”
In 2020, COVID forced Rahmans to close the business for nearly four months. Even after, the business was slow to bounce back as many were afraid to hold the large weddings which the boutique ran on. 
On top of the pandemic, Rahmans also lost her husband in 2022 to cancer.
“It is okay though,” Rahmans said. “It was a hard time, but it was okay because everybody lost. I can have no complaints.”
Rahmans now lives in Fresh Meadows, nearly an hour commute from the store where she makes her living. Both Shama and Karishma lead successful lives – Shama as a Senior Director of Marketing at the New York Times Magazine and Karishma as a cardiology fellow at Harvard’s school of Medicine.
“I never liked to move,” Rahmans said. “My home is there [in Bangladesh] but I had to for the kids, and, of course, they have a better life here.”
