The story so far

The centuries old Nakshi Kantha of Bengal was a dying village craft in the wake of printing. This is when Shamlu Dudeja along with her daughter, Malika, came into the picture and began marketing Kantha in a big way. First it was popularized amongst Indian designers, such as Rohit Khosla And Tarun Tahiliani. Soon it began to vie with the Garas and Jamawar shawls in the wardrobe of elite, urban women with great taste.

Several successful exhibitions in UK at prestigious centres such as The Commonwealth Institute, in the US at The Gandhi Centre and others found a well-deserved place for Kantha in the world of folk-art, internationally.

This lead to the birth of SHE - Self Help Enterprise with the help of village women who create unusual textures on fabrics and embroider beautiful Kantha pictures. Trained seamstresses go to the villages and look for women with sewing skills, and a little time to spare everyday. The inherent needlework skill of these women are honed, till they are able to vary the simple common garden running stitch with stunning results.

When it started out there were just a handful of people and today it helps hundreds of women sustain their livelihood. SHE has truly empowered women.