Pavitra’s work with Sarmaya draws on a lifetime studying art history, a career building authentic brand identities and a commitment to spotlighting India’s design heritage. Sarmaya Arts Foundation is a digital museum representing an archive of historical and artistic artefacts from the Subcontinent. The collection, based in Mumbai, consists of coins, maps, 19th-century photography, rare books, engravings, living traditions and modern Indian art. By leveraging the growing power of Instagram in a pre-pandemic world and leaning into Sarmaya’s unique digital-first position, Pavitra introduced a fresh paradigm for Indian cultural organisations to foster communities online.

 In her individual role as Brand Custodian at Sarmaya as well as through the design practice collective at PRD, Pavitra contributed significantly to the strategic growth of Sarmaya as a digital museum. She distilled the organisation’s goals of inclusion and equitable access through the tagline, ‘Museum Without Boundaries’. This serves as the prism through which Sarmaya filters all its offerings, from on-ground exhibitions to social media campaigns. Pavitra’s role with Sarmaya encompasses brand strategy, exhibition design, catalogue design, content and communication, partner collaborations, and museum acquisitions.

 In an online landscape once dominated by institutional fixtures, Pavitra helped Sarmaya to emerge as a lively, engaging and egalitarian platform for arts and culture. She recognised early on the narrative potential of popular culture in introducing younger audiences to facets of Indian history, connecting past to present. Working closely with the team at Sarmaya, Pavitra articulated the museum's content creation strategy, emphasising a maverick tone of voice across various platforms.

 Sarmaya’s collection is vast, historically significant and ever-evolving. Pavitra has diversified its scope, infusing perspectives from powerful women artists and promising new voices. She has also led the acquisition of artworks by artists like Rithika Merchant, Jethro Buck, and Manjunath Kamath, who have since only continued to grow in critical success. As an organisation that supports sustainable patronage of the arts, Sarmaya invests in living traditions through special commissions. Towards that goal, Pavitra has guided the museum towards engaging deeply with the miniature painting tradition—an art form containing layers of cross-cultural influences, each telling its own compelling story of India.