Pink Maharani enables artisans with ongoing opportunities, girls in India to outshine stigma and children in challenging circumstances with remedies – which removes barriers and brings peace of mind. They do this by offering the finest cashmere, silk and alpaca shawls.
“It’s more important to be kind than to be right. Many times what people need is not a brilliant mind that speaks but a special heart that listens.” Buddha
Their journey started with an innocent random conversation at a tea shop in Geneva. With a perfect blend of entrepreneurship and social impact, pink maharani was cofounded by Narmada Ramakrishna with a clear vision and strong commitment for the people and the planet. The ex-cofounder thanks to her mother’s business and wanderlust had been to India many times. She understood beautiful fabrics, design, aesthetics etc. and Narmada being Indian understood the culture, the people plus coming from an entrepreneurial family, understood doing good business. The socially-driven business is holistic and helps others in some form or the other. So in simple terms, it was the love of fabric, supporting and enabling people, esp. women that got pink maharani going. This story is not just about a shawl but about the passion for creating and the soaring human spirit for authentic beauty.
What are you reading at the moment? As a newly-minted mother, running a full-fledged business, taking care of a newborn and apartment hunting doesn’t give me much “me” time for now. Before, the baby I was doing some parallel reading between the Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari and re-reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, hoping to get back to it soon someday.
What’s keeping you awake at night? The most obvious answer is the baby, which is the case at the moment 🙂 In the grander scheme of things, however, there are many things on my mind, especially in such unprecedented times.
Our motto throughout has been “ we do not look up nor look down on anyone”
Top two out of the long list, 1) What causes a radical shift in perspectives and beliefs systems for people to rise above their egos and see/do the greater good? How is much external intervention necessary versus inner introspection to make significant shifts happen? One cannot force inward contemplation, maybe major world events like COVID 19 forced people to look deeper, but these were for privileged ones like me, what about the ones without much to start with, how do such events help them rise above or do they sink deeper? What can one do about this? 2) By working in the fashion industry, the most apparent thought has been how our sector can help or accelerate external intervention. As we build a new platform to connect and uplift artisans, I am continually asking myself what the best way to do this is?
What’s the one thing you can’t live without? My family
What is the hardest thing you overcame? A few years ago, at the crossroads on the boom or bust of my company, pink maharani, I was faced with a choice to either surrender remain passive or trust that life will take its course, which to me is effortless action. Strangely, life had some serious plans for a fight. I found all the resources and contacts to fight the battle; it wasn’t easy, but ultimately, we won because it was right and truthful. The hardest thing, as easy as it might sound was to let go and trust the process.
How did you get out of your own way? From the above example, trusting the process and letting go in the most challenging situation, not standing my ground trying to control the situation and its outcomes was the best moment, where I got out of my own way for something bigger to work its magic. It made me also realise what a dismal of an existence we have, humanity as a whole, one microscopic virus can put our life at a standstill. Looking at life from a universal perspective has been very freeing for me.
The conviction that finest fashion, authentic impact and wisdom can be created by putting humans, animals and the environment first. Pink Maharani’s fabric of change builds bridges and connects us as communities to pursue something that is bigger than ourselves.
150+ artisan families experience a sustainable improvement of their living conditions by working with us. We promote the preservation of the traditional craftmanship, so they carry the love for their crafts and their artistry to our customers.
1000+ girls were equipped with our menstrual hygiene awareness program (still a taboo topic in India) and a free supply of sanitary napkins for one full year.
350+ especially developed solar backpacks could be delivered to children without a consistent access to electricity doing their homework.
For more information about Pink Maharani contact