Written piece
The Threads We Carry
Suparna Mondal
India
About this piece
My submission is about the ritualistic and cultural value of threads in our culture and how they connect us across generations.
The Threads We Carry
The threads we carry
Are the threads that carry us
To protect our loved ones from danger,
We tie red threads around their wrists,
Black threads to ward off the evil eye.
Sisters tie threads around brothers' wrists,
Mothers tie them around their children's.
Threads connect two people in holy matrimony.
How sacred and magical threads are!
Yet I admire the ordinary thread
That helps to repair a torn piece of cloth.
Nowadays, who has the time for that?
I remember my grandmother extracting threads and beautiful borders
From old saris, reusing them while sewing kanthas for her grandchildren.
It was like a ritual whenever a new baby was about to be born.
Old saris worn by mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers,
Turned into kanthas,
Handed over from one generation to another,
Held together by threads.
These are the threads we carry
And the threads carry us too.