On Kantha as the first stitch

One of South Asia’s oldest and simplest forms of embroidery, Kantha is that running stitch which dances across fabric in rhythmic dashes.

If keyboards could do kantha,

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Originating in Bengal and Bihar, the word itself comes from Sanskrit for rags, a nod to its origins in repurposing old saris, lungis, and dhotis with the humble running stitch. For many women we work with, we begin with Kantha because of this familiarity.

With Kantha, we are not introducing something foreign, we are simply giving form to what is already known. Like starting to learn the german vocab using the already known english. For instance, many wouldn’t need google translate to understand German words- Haus, Fisch. There’s deep wisdom in starting from the known and guiding it gently toward the new. This way, Kantha becomes a bridge from domestic tasks to deliberate craft, from overlooked labor to dignified skill

And this path of learning mirrors kantha’s own evolution as a tool for mending to a form of meaning.

In Bengal’s nakshi kantha (nakshi = decorative), those same stitches that mended a torn blouse began to tell stories—of lotus ponds and village days, birds in flight, and scenes from mythic epics.

In Bihar, sujani took on bold, symbolic forms—red and black threads on white cloth, invoking protection, strength, and ancestral memory.

Both these forms reflect a deep cultural instinct: to transform the worn into the wondrous. From colonial archives in the V&A (London) to textile museums like Calico (Ahmedabad), Kantha has travelled far.

What was once necessity is now beauty.
What was repair is now storytelling.