With our birth, we inherit an innate identity that forms the foundation for the rest of our lives. We spend a lifetime shaping, sometimes reshaping yet other times completely shedding that identity to create our own truth.

With my birth, I inherited parents, family, lineage, language, motherland, history, heritage, culture, customs, rituals- pieces of me to be juxtaposed with living, breathing, growing and blossoming amongst the concrete slabs of an entirely different language, history, culture, customs and rituals; creating a hyphenated identity filled with intricate details of what can ultimately only be my very own truth.

For Semonti's first collection, I am intentional in my desire to begin this journey at the roots of my being. I am intentional in my desire to share the story of my birth where the canvas is the country of my birth, Bangladesh. I am intentional in paying homage to the father of our nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whose extraordinary leadership enabled a nation to have a land to call home and a flag to call their own in 1971: Bangladesh, finally a liberated nation.

I am intentional in my desire to pay tribute to those brave students, who nineteen years before Bangladesh was born, sacrificed their lives to continue to speak their mother tongue, Bangla. I am intentional in proudly acknowledging The Bangla Language Movement of 21st February 1952 which has paved the way for 21st February to be celebrated as International Mother Language Day by UNESCO and the UNGA to promote and preserve linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism throughout the world.

I am intentional in showcasing the Alpona or ritual painting which is an integral part of Bangladesh's festivities; bridging traditional with contemporary and unifying a diverse people in celebration and creating a sense of belonging.

With this collection, I share the roots to my very own truths.