The Rainbow Incense

The story of our brand dates back to 18th century when our founder Aastha Devi was born in Rajasthan in a agrarian family in the year of 1788. Those were the times when India was under the British Control and had prominent Mughal presence too. Idea of women entrepreneurship is not new today we are having women entrepreneurs running successful businesses around the world. But those were the times when females were faced atrocities and were kept under purdah and various other social controls. She got married to Dayaram at the early age of in 1802 to a farmer and blessed with a baby boy in the year 1803. They had five children three boys and 2 girls, Aastha Devi was busy taking care of home and kids but in year 1807 her husband died of some illness. Running a household without a male head was not easy then. She was broken and poverty ridden but one day she stood against the odds and thought of doing farming because she had basic idea of farming as she had seen her father doing it. People of India were always spiritual no matter what religion they belong, temples, mosques and churches were there to worship. Whenever Aastha Devi had free time she made incense sticks ‘Agarbatti’ with natural fragrances, flower garlands, handmade costumes for deities. Sometimes ladies from neighbourhood gathered at her place and they together made incense sticks, chit chats and enjoyed. The financial and physical condition too improved, kids were growing fast and then one fine day she thought of donating surplus incense sticks to a nearby temple. In 1819, her eldest son Sawarn Kumar got married, who got six children out of which Aastha Devi Ji named her first grandson Sundar Singh, she was so inspired by Khalsa Raj’s bravery and velour that she made him Sikh. Later on, Sundar Singh joined army in Sikh regiment , as like his grandmother his family followed making incense sticks. Aastha Devi Ji died in the year 1890 survived by the huge family of sons, daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Then came, Heera Singh who was grandson of Sundar Singh who along with his family migrated to Punjab in 1922. Their family lived in Punjab for almost 24 years where Narata Singh was born in 1928, family was involved in farming along with making incense sticks on micro level. In year 1946 the family went back to Bikaner, stayed there for eight years then permanently settled in Punjab from year 1952. In year 1962 Balbir Singh was born who carried the business forward, but her daughter Inderpreet Kaur in 1991 is currently carrying forward the legacy of making handmade incense sticks with organic fragrances and empowering the poor rural women by employing them in making incense sticks.