Our Story
Preserving the object, and the memory around it
Awalkhana brings handpicked sarees directly from weavers, and keeps their stories alive.
Hyper and heightened personalisation will drive the future of consumption. Technology will serve humanity, but its soul will always be nourished by nuanced, humanised experiences.
About the founder
Rashmi Singh
My Journey
I have over 25 years of experience in education as an award-winning teacher, scholar, and institution-builder. Working with students and creating meaningful, transformative learning experiences has been my lifelong passion, and it continues to shape my work.
I specialize in designing inclusive, value-driven educational ecosystems that centre experiential learning, holistic wellbeing, and purposeful growth.
I most recently served as the Founding Director and Head of the ATLAS ASPIRE Centre, and previously as the Founding Director of Student Life and Student Affairs at Ashoka University. In these roles, I built the entire ‘outside the classroom’ ecosystem from ground up, shaping a vibrant, community-led campus culture rooted in liberal arts values.
Personal Life & Passions
Born and raised in the steel city of Bokaro, Jharkhand, I moved to Delhi for my education and lived there for over 25 years before settling in Mumbai. My lifelong transitions, commitment to my work, and passion for learning and culture have shaped both my personal and professional journey.
Beyond academics and education, I am passionate about exploring everyday life through music, art, culture, and heritage — creating spaces that bring these experiences to life. I have been curating and nurturing such spaces since the start of my career, aiming not only to showcase creative expressions but also to build communities around them.
Rashmi Singh
Inspiration
My younger self grew up in awe of my beautiful mother, my very first style icon. She was a sensation in her college days, admired for draping her sarees in the most elegant and imaginative ways and for wearing fashionable outfits that she designed and tailored herself. I was especially captivated by the effortless grace with which she carried her treasured heirloom Banarasi sarees.
One memory remains particularly vivid. When I was in the tenth grade, I got my first opportunity to wear her electric orange Banarasi saree. It was adorned with exquisite checkered motifs woven in pure gold zari and featured an intricately handwoven gold zari palla. The occasion was Saraswati Puja, and dressed in all our finery, we spent the day pandal hopping. It was a moment I cherished deeply.
My mother’s influence extended far beyond that saree. Until my post-college years, I wore outfits designed and stitched by her. She possessed magical hands, an immensely creative mind, and a distinctly minimalist sense of style.
Inspired by her, I too became a passionate rasika of sarees, an avid collector of diverse weaves, and a regular wearer. Alongside this love for textiles grew an equally profound passion for heritage.
For over a decade, I have been immersed in researching and documenting my grandmother’s heirloom, an extraordinary Awalkhana; a cloth sampler preserving 112 exquisitely hand-embroidered Kashida motifs from Bihar. This journey led me to uncover the lesser-known tradition of Kashida embroidery in Bihar and to discover a remarkable treasure trove of nearly 2,000 Kashida artifacts preserved at the Upendra Maharathi Shilp Anusandhan Sansthan.
Throughout this deeply enriching journey, I was fortunate to be guided and inspired by the late Smt. Jasleen Dhamija, one of India’s foremost textile art historians and craft experts.
Gradually, the Awalkhana became more than an object of study. It became My Heritage, My Preserve.
Years of self-discovery, exploration, learning, and creative expression through these intertwined passions have shaped my perspective and prepared me to open this world to others.
Awalkhana is the culmination of this enduring inspiration, a celebration of heritage and craftsmanship, and an expression of a love that continues to grow with every thread, weave, and story.
Come, meet the saree in person
Every Awalkhana saree arrives with its story. See it in your hands, and hear that story from us.